I'm sure you've had that feeling on a long highway jaunt: Your mind goes numb, your eyes fixate on the road in front of you, but you're not really seeing anything and your mind isn't registering anything.

The next step is to nod off and what happens next is usually catastrophic.

Ford has released the results of a five-month study into drowsy driving and technology to prevent it.

"We have the ability to alert a drowsy driver to a lane departure and improve their performance," says Jeff Greenberg, of Ford's Vehicle Design Research. "And we can do it in ways that drivers will accept. The new system will be adaptive and intelligent -- to sense true driver status."

Since last November, 32 drivers -- 12 men and 20 women ranging in age from 24 to 69 -- have taken part in the study, where they literally fell asleep behind the wheel of the VIRTTEX driver simulator -- a full-motion-based driving simulator.

Drowsiness and fatigue are the No. 1 cause of about 1.5% of all crashes in the U.S.

"On average, drivers are on the road for almost three hours before they nod off," said Ksenia Kozak, a technical expert in biomechanics and human factors.

"So our three-hour simulator drive recreates conditions under which drivers are likely to fall asleep. We focused on driver-initiated lane departures in the final hour of our simulator drive."

- - -

TRYING TESTS

Test subjects were asked to stay up all night the night before the test, and to take no caffeine after 6 p.m. A watchstrap sensor verified that the test subject didn't fall asleep.

After a sleepless night, the volunteer entered the VIRTTEX simulator and drove for up to three hours on a simulated darkened country road.

Starting the test, seven subjects were rated alert, 10 were moderately drowsy, and 15 were rated very drowsy.

Three drove off the road and "crashed."

Two requested to have the experiment end.

Observed behaviours in an effort to remain awake included: changing posture/fidgeting, singing, playing with the CD player (changing the song, turning up the volume), slapping their face, drinking water, and actively looking at the outside environment.

- - -

YOUNG SUCCUMB

Although designed to study the effects of warnings and not the differences between age groups, the test showed the youngest drivers did the worst.

The two youngest test subjects, a 24- and a 26-year-old man, actually fell asleep and ran off the road.

It was the middle-aged women between 45 and 60 years of age who did best, having the least problems, and fewest episodes of dozing behind the wheel.

Falling asleep behind the wheel was shown to be episodic. It came in brief intervals during the drive, ranging from a half second to 10 seconds.

The average was about 2.5 seconds before the driver would return to a baseline of consciousness until drifting back into the micro-sleep state again.

Breaks in driving -- such as a rest-room stop or a quick walk -- didn't have much effect on combating driver drowsiness during the test.

Drivers soon reverted to their drowsy state and would soon fall back asleep.

"Nothing beats getting some sleep -- either for 30 minutes, or better yet, a few hours," said Greenberg.

Ford researchers looked at several different technologies to sense a driver falling asleep, a lane departure, and to alert them and get them back into their lane.

In September, a Ford Taurus was moved out of the VIRTTEX test chamber, and a Volvo S80 was moved in.

A camera worn on a headset, and pointed at the driver's left eye, monitors eye movement.

A computer calculates the percentage of eye closed versus eye open -- to sense if the driver is falling asleep and initiates a warning system.

The new safety technology will first show up in Volvo cars and SUVs late in the decade.

Until then: get some sleep!

Idnumber: 200404230042
Edition: Final
Story Type: Supplement
Note: Auto Market
Length: 653 words