Abstract
Driver drowsiness has been implicated as a major causal factor in road accidents. Tools that allow remote monitoring and management of driver fatigue are used in the mining and road transport industries. Increasing drivers’ own awareness of their drowsiness levels using such tools may also reduce risk of accidents. The study examined the effects of real-time blink-velocity-derived drowsiness feedback on driver performance and levels of alertness in a military setting. A sample of 15 Army Reserve personnel (1 female) aged 21–59 (M=41.3, SD=11.1) volunteered to being monitored by an infra-red oculography-based Optalert Alertness Monitoring System (OAMS) while they performed their regular driving tasks, including on-duty tasks and commuting to and from duty, for a continuous period of 4–8 weeks. For approximately half that period, blink-velocity-derived Johns Drowsiness Scale (JDS) scores were fed back to the driver in a counterbalanced repeated-measures design, resulting in a total of 419 driving periods under “feedback” and 385 periods under “no-feedback” condition. Overall, the provision of real-time feedback resulted in reduced drowsiness (lower JDS scores) and improved alertness and driving performance ratings. The effect was small and varied across the 24-h circadian cycle but it remained robust after controlling for time of day and driving task duration. Both the number of JDS peaks counted for each trip and their duration declined in the presence of drowsiness feedback, indicating a dynamic pattern that is consistent with a genuine, entropy-reducing feedback mechanism (as distinct from random re-alerting) behind the observed effect. Its mechanisms and practical utility have yet to be fully explored. Direct examination of the alternative, random re-alerting explanation of this feedback effect is an important step for future research.
Highlights
Driver fatigue is a major causal factor in road accidents (Haraldsson and Akerstedt, 2001)
Data from two participants had to be excluded due to equipment failure resulting in no reliable record of Optalert Alertness Monitoring System (OAMS) feedback status (On or Off)
Peaks per trip, F(1, 592.98) = 13.28, p < .001, h2 = .02, 95% CI[
Summary
Driver fatigue is a major causal factor in road accidents (Haraldsson and Akerstedt, 2001). Fatigue is a construct that links factors such as time of day, time since waking, task duration and monotony, with safety-related outcomes (Ackerman, 2011; Williamson et al, 2011). Fatigue can result from sleepiness (drowsiness), boredom, and mental or physical exhaustion. From these causal factors, drowsiness is considered the most relevant aspect of fatigue when applied in the driving context. Driver drowsiness has been implicated in road accidents both within professional (Maycock, 1997) and general driving populations (Horne and Reyner, 1995a). Accidents caused by driver drowsiness can have a similar fatality rate to alcohol-related crashes (Pack et al, 1995)
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