International Journal of Automotive Technology, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp.

391−404 (2009) Copyright © 2009 KSAE

DOI 10.1007/s12239−009−0045−x 1229−9138/2009/046−15

EFFECT OF DROWSINESS ON DRIVING PERFORMANCE VARIABLES

OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLE DRIVERS
A. MORTAZAVI , A. ESKANDARIAN and R. A. SAYED
1) 2)* 3)

California Center for Innovative Transportation (CCIT), University of California, Berkeley, USA
1)

2)
Center for Intelligent Systems Research, School of Engineering and Applied Science, The George Washington
University, 20101 Academic Way, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA
Mechanical Engineering Deparment, NWFP-UET, Peshavar Pakistan
3)

(Received 14 March 2008; Revised 25 October 2008)

ABSTRACT−Driver drowsiness is a major safety concern, especially among commercial vehicle drivers, and is responsible
for thousands of accidents and numerous fatalities every year. The design of a drowsiness detection system is based on
identifying suitable driver-related and/or vehicle-related variables that are correlated to the driver’s level of drowsiness.
Among different candidates, vehicle control variables seem to be more promising since they are unobtrusive, easy to
implement, and cost effective. This paper focuses on in-depth analysis of different driver-vehicle control variables, e.g.,
steering angle, lane keeping, etc. that are correlated with the level of drowsiness. The goal is to find relationships and to
characterize the effect of a driver’s drowsiness on measurable vehicle or driving variables and set up a framework for
developing a drowsiness detection system. Several commercial drivers were tested in a simulated environment and different
variables were recorded. This study shows that drowsiness has a major impact on lane keeping and steering control behavior.
The correlation of the number and type of accidents with the level of drowsiness was also examined. Significant patterns in
lateral position variations and steering corrections were observed, and two phases of drowsiness-related degradation in
steering control were identified. The two steering degradation phases examined are suitable features for use in drowsiness
detection systems.
KEY WORDS : Drowsiness, Commercial drivers, Drowsiness detection, Steering control, Lane keeping, Vehicle safety

1. INTRODUCTION is fatally injured (NTSB, 1990).

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
recognizes driver drowsiness as one of the major causes of
single and multiple car accidents in the United States
(Knipling and Wang, 1994). Every year, 100,000 crashes
involve driver fatigue, resulting in more than 40,000 injuries.
The Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) reports
1,544 fatalities each year due to driver drowsiness-related
accidents. More than 3% of drowsiness related crashes (a
total of 3,300 crashes and 84 fatalities) involved drivers of
combination-unit trucks.
Based on police reports, drowsiness accounts for 1% to
3% of all U.S. motor vehicle crashes (Lyznicki, Doege
al., 1998). Police report studies are likely to substantially
underestimate this proportion as the drivers involved in
fatigue accidents do not admit their state of drowsiness, and
police may not investigate fatigue issues because of a lack
of time and knowledge. According to other researchers
(Wang and Knipling, 1994b), fatigue has been involved in
15% of single vehicle fatal truck crashes. Drowsiness is the
most frequent contributor to crashes in which a truck driver
*Corresponding author. e-mail: eska@gwu.edu
Other researchers have also addressed the relationship
between impairment due to sleepiness exacerbated by
alcohol and driving incidents, i.e. lane drifting (Horne and
Reyner, 1995). Based on NHTSA General Estimates System
(GES) statistics (Knipling and Wierwille, 1994), although
the frequency of drowsiness-related crashes involving
passenger vehicles is greater than that of combination-unit
trucks, the number of involvements per vehicle life cycle
for trucks is about four times greater because of their very
high exposure level, as well as the greater likelihood of
night driving. Moreover, truck crashes are more severe in
terms of injury and property damage (Wang and Knipling,
et 1994a).
In general, the factors that influence driver fatigue/drow-
siness include daytime sleepiness, amount of night sleep,
difficult work schedules, hours of work, driver’s age and
experience, cumulative sleep debt, presence of a sleep
disorder, and time of day (Hamelin 1987; Wylie et al.,
1996; Gander and James, 1998; McCartt et al ., 2000).
Truck drivers are even more at risk because of the long
hours of continuous wakefulness, irregular driving schedules,
night shifts, sleep disruption or fragmented sleep because
of split off-duty time, and other factors associated with the

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