New warning system to prevent car accidents

Spanish researchers have come up with a new driving assistance system that keeps track of a driver's attention level and helps to prevent accidents caused by drowsiness or distractions behind the wheel.

"The information comes to the system through a video camera, located on the dashboard of the car, and measures eye blinking speed, its degree of openness or where the driver is looking in order to detect potentially dangerous situations," Science Daily quoted professor José María Armingol from the Department of Systems Engineering and Automation of the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), as saying.

"If the system detects that the driver is getting drowsy or that he or she is distracted from the road, the driver is warned by an audible signal to alert him or her to the dangerous situation," Armingol added.

Drivers of all types of vehicles can use the Advanced Driving Alert System (ADAS).

Co-researcher, Arturo de la Escalera said: "It would be logical to start with drivers who spend a lot of time at the wheel, such as truck drivers or bus drivers and later refine the system to apply it to all types of drivers."

Marco Javier Flores, another team member added: "Among the possible improvements to the system is that is registers and evaluates other types of gestures, such as a drooping head or the number of yawns,"

The conclusions of the research have appeared online in the Journal of Intelligent and Robotics System.