Mercedes Benz The boffins at Mercedes Benz call it the 'one-second nap' that instant when fatigue overcomes you at the wheel on a long trip and you wake up in a hospital. To counter dozing off while driving, the company's engineers have developed an innovative driver support system called Attention Assist.
The system registers and monitors linear and lateral acceleration, pedal operation, vehicle speed and most importantly steering response, the definitive indicator of fatigue according to Mercedes. During the first few minutes of each journey, Attention Assist uses these sensors to compile an individual driver's behaviour pattern. This is then constantly compared with the current steering behaviour and driving situation by the onboard electronic control unit.
Mercedes claims its system can recognize the driver's transition from alertness to drowsiness, emitting a loud audio warning and displaying 'Attention Assist. Break!' in the car's instrument display panel. The system will be rolled out next year on the S-class and like ESP, will eventually become a standard safery fixture on all Mercedes models.
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