Ophélie Artaud / Photo credit: MATHIEU THOMASSET / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 4:16 p.m., March 15, 2024
From next July, all new vehicles built in Europe will be equipped with a driver monitoring device.
Objective: to combat distraction and drowsiness while driving, and thus reduce the risk of accidents.
A system to prevent drowsy driving?
From this summer, new cars built in Europe will be equipped with a monitoring device to combat distraction and the risk of falling asleep at the wheel.
Voted last year, this European regulation (called General Safety Regulation 2 "GSR2") will be effective from July 7, 2024 for all vehicles approved by manufacturers in Europe, as explained by BFMTV.
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The European Union Delegated Regulation describes this driver distraction warning device (ADDW), as "a system which helps the driver to continue to pay attention to the traffic situation and which warns the driver in the event of distraction ".
The system will activate when the vehicle is traveling above 20 km/h.
It will warn the motorist when he takes his eyes off the road for more than 3.5 seconds when traveling at more than 50km/h.
Below this speed, the system will activate when he takes his eyes off the road for more than 6 seconds.
Drowsiness responsible for one in three fatal accidents on the highway
Concretely, the driver's face will be studied by an infrared camera present in the vehicle.
The system will also work at night, even if the driver is wearing sunglasses, for example.
If his alertness drops, he closes his eyes or does not look at the road, warning messages and audible alerts will be sent.
The intensity will increase if he does not react.
According to Road Safety, the risk of having an accident is eight times greater when you are drowsy.
On the motorway, one in three fatal accidents is also attributed to drowsiness.