Council goes into trance
Page 10
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
by Juliet Parish • A local authority is asking hauliers to volunteer drivers for research into loss of concentration at the wheel. The project could lead to a new in-cab alarm which detects loss of attention.
From September Devon County Council plans to lead three years of research into the problem of drivers going into a trance, regardless of having had a good sleep the night before.
It wants to recruit 350 commercial drivers to be monitored at work—on average each driver will be needed for 10 hours each year. They will be aged between 30 and 65 and will wear electrodes so they can be monitored without the dis traction of observers sitting in their cabs. Researchers will monitor what body signs show as they are entering a phase of unawareness. And they will be seeking to find what triggers this, says DCC senior road safety officer Sydney Hemsley.
Hemsley hopes to be awarded £165,000 Government funds for the £335,000 project with Exeter University and the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.
It is hoped there will be enough data for an outside company to develop equipment to fight loss of concentration.
The equipment could take the form of part of the truck's sensor system or a micro computer worn by the driver.
Until now most research has concentrated on fatigue which could be unrelated to driving without awareness, says Hemsley.