Project

Driving while fatigued in slippery road conditions - a neglected issue

Period
1 January 2013–31 December 2014
Project manager
Igor Radun

Fatigue is a major cause of traffic accidents although the exact proportion is unknown. The main reasons for this are the blurred concept of fatigue, the inexistence of a validated and reliable device for detecting the level of sleepiness (d. the breath analyzer for alcohol levels), and the lack of dear and objective criteria for recognizing the contribution of fatigue to crash causation. The main hypothesis in this project is that the role of fatigue as a contributing factor to the accidents occurring in difficult road conditions, namely slippery roads, is underestimated both in traffic safety research as well as in accident statistics. It is reasonable to assume that fatigued drivers who generally experience problems of keeping the vehicle within the lines and often apply a sudden or hard corrective might be at high risk of ending off-road due to the unforgiving nature of slippery roads. Furthermore, although demanding task of driving in slippery road condition might initially keep sleepy driver alert, it is possible that if such stressful driving continues for a number of hours, already tired drivers can become exhausted and the chance of making a wrong manoeuvre that potentially can lead to an accidents increases. A driving simulator experiment using is planned. Several benefits of this study are predicted. That includes creating safety campaigns aiming at raising the awareness about the dangerousness of driving sleepy in slippery road condition as well as revising the ways police officers Investigate road accidents. The ultimate goal is to set the recommendations for the improvement of the existing (independent) In-vehicle technologies, namely driver fatigue detection devices and low friction warning systems that should take into account possible interaction between driver fatigue and driving task In slippery road conditions.

Short facts

Research area
Systems for accident prevention and AD
Financier(s)

SAFER

Partners

Chalmers, AB Volvo, Trafikverket

Project no

A42

Project type
Project