Mercedes-Benz' driver drowsiness system - ATTENTION ASSIST - has won the 2010 best safety innovation award from British magazine What Car?
While some rival European manufacturers have similar systems, What Car? found the 'Benz system to be very clever in its operation.
ATTENTION ASSIST, included as standard equipment on all new E-Class Mercedes-Benz models, monitors over 70 behavior parameters to determine when a driver is becoming tired. If fatigue is detected, an audible alarm is sounded and a message is indicated on the dashboard.
Especially in the cold, dark winter months - which do tend to last a while in the UK! - overtiredness is a factor in 25 per cent of Motorway accidnts. It's a similar story on Germany's Autobahns.
During a UK 'tired-drivers test' using real-world drivers - not motoring journalists or racing drivers - the results were shocking as the testers almost imperceptibly had increased difficulty keeping their vehicles on track when fatigue set-in.
