Each year, over 100,000 car crashes are caused by drowsy drivers, which result in 40,000 injuries and over 1,500 deaths, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which makes drowsy driving one of the most common causes of car accidents. Driving while sleepy can be very dangerous, since it affects a driver’s reaction time and impairs their judgment. That’s why many car makers are implementing car safety technology features in their vehicles that can issue warnings when they detect that a driver is too drowsy. Some of the most popular driver drowsiness detection systems include Ford’s Driver Alert, Volkswagen’s Fatigue Detection System, and Volvo’s Driver Alert Control.

The latest innovation in the field of drowsy driver detection technology was unveiled by Washington State University recently, which it claims is much more effective and more practical than existing systems developed by various automakers. Researchers at WSU Spokane have been trying to create a system that would eliminate the shortcomings of the systems that are currently available, which, according to them, don’t work well on snow-covered roads and when lane markings are not clearly visible.

The technology they have patented is able to track steering wheel movements, which they believe are essential for detecting symptoms of drowsy driving, as they are more variable with drowsy drivers, and can sense when a driver is about to fall sleep better than other systems that employ video cameras to detect when a car is drifting out of its lane.

Researchers conducted two experiments with 29 drivers, who were asked to work on a 10-day night-shift schedule and spend four 30-minute sessions in a driving simulator during each shift. The simulator measured 87 metrics, associated with steering, lane position, acceleration, speed, and other factors that can reveal whether a driver is managing to stay in their lane or is drifting out of it.

They used a sensor to measure how the steering wheel was moving at all times, which can help determine the level of a driver’s fatigue. Researchers said that by monitoring the position of the steering wheel constantly, they could detect that a car is about to leave its lane much earlier than by using a camera to track a vehicle’s position in relation to lane markings. This way, the system can issue an alert before the vehicle starts drifting out, giving the driver enough time to react and avoid a lane departure.

Hans Van Dongen, research professor at the WSU Sleep and Performance Research Center, said that this invention can be used as a basis for the development of a early driver drowsiness detection system, and that it can be combined with existing systems. Additionally, researchers claim that this system is much more affordable and easier to install than those that are currently offered by automakers.

If this system becomes commercially available, car owners would be able to buy it as an aftermarket product and install it in their vehicles, which would help prevent hundreds of thousands of accidents that are a result of driver fatigue.