We have come across many gadgets in the past that help to keep you awake while you are on the wheel. It's sad but true; many lives are lost due to a fatigued driver. A tired driver not only puts his life in danger but also endangers his co-passengers and pedestrians lives. However the focus has always been on drunk-driving and speeding. Addressing this issue (of sleepy drivers), Mercedes-Benz is working on a warning system that will be able to identify tiredness-related changes in personal driving styles, hence warn the driver that it's time to take a break when these changes are detected. The system has entered the final stages of development and expected to go into series production in 2009. Called the Attention Assist system, it constantly monitors typical driving patterns to establish an individual profile and, taking into account factors like the time of day, the duration of the trip and steering behavior, makes a decision on whether the driver is becoming tired when there is deviation from this saved data. Apparently the system records the angle of the steering wheel, speed, acceleration, the use of indicators and pedals, plus it takes into account external factors like a side wind or an uneven road surface. If changes occur within the established parameters of one's driving behavior, a warning sounds and an alert symbol appears in the instrument cluster so the driver knows it's time for a break.

I always believe its better to be safe than sorry, hence gadgets and gizmos aside, if you are tired and sleepy please find the nearest motel and take a nap. Apparently the new Mercedes-Benz system has also identified monotony as one of the reasons for drowsiness. Monotony caused by unchanging road conditions on long trips and a lack of other traffic on the road, particularly in darkness, as a key factor in driver fatigue. Since tiredness slowly creeps and often drivers don't realize this soon enough, the Attention Assist system aims at identifying the signs early and warn drivers well in advance, thus avert any untoward incident. The development of the Attention Assist system began with a series of experiments in the driving simulator in Berlin followed by motorway trials involving 420 test people and more than 500,000 kilometers of road travel. Long-term tests will be conducted in different climate zones, city traffic, poor roads and on long-distance trips.

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