The Hidden Dangers of Drowsy Driving for Truckers
Trucking accidents are a serious problem in the United States, with large trucks being responsible for 9% of all fatal crashes in 2021. One contributing factor to these accidents is drowsy driving, which can lead to impaired cognitive and motor performance, slower reaction times, decreased attention, and even total loss of consciousness. Researchers are analyzing real-world crashes involving large trucks to better understand how to prevent drowsy driving and microsleep episodes.
Identifying Signs of Drowsy Driving
Through analyzing dashcam footage of truck collisions in Japan, researchers have found that traditional technologies focused on monitoring drivers’ eyes are insufficient for preventing drowsy driving. Instead, to detect microsleep-related activity, researchers recommend a holistic approach that considers the driver’s entire body and vehicle behavior. Signs of microsleep include relaxation of anti-gravity muscles, half-closed eyes, closing eyes for a second or more, and no body movement.
Developing Advanced Safety Systems for Truckers
To reduce the risk of accidents involving drowsy truck drivers, researchers suggest the development of advanced safety systems that use a whole-body approach combined with vehicle monitoring. These systems should include technologies that monitor both the interior and exterior of the truck using cameras or other sensors and the deployment of algorithms that can analyze such data in real-time to detect signs of drowsiness or fatigue. Additionally, these systems could alert drivers with an alarm when they are at risk of falling asleep at the wheel.
Expanding on the Topic
The trucking industry is a vital part of the U.S. economy, but it also poses risks to drivers and other road users. Drowsy driving is one of the most significant risks facing truckers, but it isn’t the only one. Other factors that contribute to accidents involving large trucks include distracted driving, speeding, improper training, and inadequate vehicle maintenance.
To address these issues, trucking companies should prioritize safety by investing in driver training, regular vehicle maintenance, and the latest safety technologies. This would not only help prevent accidents but also improve the industry’s reputation and attract more qualified drivers. Additionally, government agencies should continue to enforce traffic laws and regulations that promote safety on the road.
Conclusion
Drowsy driving is a serious problem in the trucking industry, but it can be prevented with the right technologies and safety measures. By using a whole-body approach and monitoring the driver’s behavior and vehicle activity, advanced safety systems can detect and alert drivers to potential microsleep episodes. This, along with improved training and maintenance, can significantly reduce the risk of accidents involving large trucks. As the trucking industry continues to grow and evolve, prioritizing safety should remain a top priority.
Summary
Drowsy driving is a significant contributor to accidents involving large trucks in the United States. Researchers analyzing dashcam footage of truck collisions in Japan have found that traditional technologies focused on monitoring drivers’ eyes are insufficient for preventing drowsy driving. Instead, to detect microsleep-related activity, researchers recommend a holistic approach that considers the driver’s entire body and vehicle behavior. Signs of microsleep include relaxation of anti-gravity muscles, half-closed eyes, closing eyes for a second or more, and no body movement. Safety measures that trucking companies could take to prevent accidents include investing in driver training, regular vehicle maintenance, and the latest safety technologies. The government should continue to enforce traffic laws and regulations that promote safety on the road.
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Researchers using dashcam footage of real-world crashes involving large trucks to analyze driver and vehicle behavior have found that drowsy alarms or similar technologies to prevent falling asleep at the wheel need to go beyond a focus on monitoring drivers’ eyes and considering other microsleep behaviors, including relaxation of back and neck muscles and abnormal activity of the vehicle itself.
A study reporting the researchers’ findings was published April 13 in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention.
Traffic accidents involving large trucks in the United States have increased 47 percent according to the National Safety Council, and in 2021, these vehicles were responsible for nine percent of all vehicles involved in fatal crashes. Several studies around the world have highlighted in particular the seriousness of drowsy driving-related crashes and their substantial risk of death.
A major risk here comes from what researchers call “microsleep.” A microsleep is a brief episode of sleep that lasts only a few seconds and can occur involuntarily during wakefulness. It can lead to impaired cognitive and motor performance, including slower reaction times, decreased attention, and even total loss of consciousness. Microsleep episodes can have a significant impact on driving performance and increase the likelihood of falling asleep while driving. In 2022, Japan’s National Police Agency announced that falling asleep at the wheel would fall under the same category of “forward inattention” as distraction, which has been the most frequent cause of fatal traffic accidents in the country for more than ten years.
Much of the research on typical microsleep behaviors has investigated one or more aspects of the problem, such as eye closure or changes in pupil diameter. No study has yet carried out an analysis that takes a more holistic approach considering multiple aspects of the problem, combining the movements of the driver’s eyes and mouth, as well as their entire body and vehicle driving behaviour. Most of these studies have only considered driver performance during computer simulations. No research has yet looked at actual large truck crashes.
“But in recent years, there has been an explosion in the use of dashcam video recorders,” said Hajime Kumagai, lead author of the paper and a specialist in sleep medicine at the University’s Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences. from Hiroshima.
“This means that a large number of traffic accidents have been recorded and their possible relationship to microsleep episodes. This inspired us to use dashcam footage to investigate microsleep-related behaviors immediately before real-world truck collisions. “.
In all, the investigators reviewed 3,120 seconds of interior and exterior dashcam video footage in 52 cases of truck collisions in Japan that actually occurred. They analyzed the images from one minute before the accident until the accident. In each incident, the person behind the wheel had been a professional driver and all the crashes occurred on urban roads or highways.
The footage was visually analyzed on a second-by-second basis to simultaneously assess any changes in the eyes and microsleep-related activity, including driver actions to try to avoid falling asleep (anti-drowsiness behaviors), behavioral signs of microsleep, and abnormal vehicle behavior. . .
The researchers concluded that key signs of microsleep include behaviors that suggest progressive sleepiness, such as no body movement, relaxation of antigravity muscles (muscles such as those of the back and neck, as well as the calves and quadriceps that used to support us against the force of gravity), eyes half closed, and closing the eyes for a second or more.
“Until now, the technologies used to try to detect and counteract falling asleep at the wheel have focused primarily on monitoring the driver’s eyes,” said Toshiaki Shiomi, a co-author of the study. “What we found means that it is crucial to monitor not just the eyes but also the driver’s entire body, as well as vehicle behavior to reliably detect microsleep-related activity.”
This should also help avoid false alarms by ensuring a clear distinction between behaviors related to and not related to microsleep.
The development of advanced safety systems that can detect and alert drivers to potential microsleep episodes involving a whole-body approach combined with vehicle monitoring for typical abnormal microsleep-related maneuvers could be an effective intervention to reduce accidents in the trucking industry.
The team now looks forward to supporting development work on such advanced security systems. These can include technologies that monitor both the interior and exterior of the truck using cameras or other sensors, as well as the deployment of algorithms that can analyze such data in real time to detect signs of drowsiness or fatigue. These systems could alert drivers with an alarm when they are at risk of falling asleep at the wheel.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230601160244.htm
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