Prospects for technological countermeasures against driver fatigue

There are three reasons for giving serious consideration to technological countermeasures against driver fatigue: 1. fatigue is a persistent occupational hazard for professional drivers; 2. some professional drivers are under considerable pressure to reach their scheduled destination, in spite of feeling drowsy; 3. fatigue adversely affects an individual's ability to assess their own fitness to continue driving. However, there are two reasons for exercising caution in implementing technological countermeasures; 1. their reliability under real traffic conditions is largely unproven; 2. they could be used by unscrupulous drivers to support the continuation of journeys that should have been terminated because of human impairment. This paper draws on the findings of research into the origins, symptoms and development of human fatigue, and on recent research into driver-support systems, to assess the prospects for implementations of technological countermeasures against driver fatigue in the foreseeable future.