Here’s an innovation–television that keeps you awake. While most of us are known to fall asleep in front of the TV set, Distribution Technologies (DistTech), a contract and common carrier, is testing a driver fatigue monitor with its fleet drivers based at the company’s terminal in Neville Island, Pennsylvania. The company has installed the Driver Fatigue Monitor (DFM) marketed by Pittsburgh-based Attention Technology Inc. in eight vehicles. Read more . . .

Falling asleep at the wheel is no laughing matter. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), approximately 100,000 collisions are caused every year on U.S. highways by drivers who fall asleep. Of that number, 1,500 of the accidents result in fatalities and 71,000 cause physical injuries. Clearly driver fatigue is a major safety problem so Volvo Car Corporation has launched an extensive initiative to deal with the problem. The result of that effort is the new Volvo Driver Alert system, a decisive step in active safety. Read more . . .

Drivers are often reminded about the seriousness of drinking and driving. Yet research now indicates that tired drivers can be just as dangerous. The American Automobile Association (AAA) recently reported the top 10 driver errors and listed “drowsiness” at number two, just behind “distractions.” Based on a study conducted in Canada and the United States, the AAA report states that drowsiness, Read more . . .