Smart driving

Attention Assist says “Pause” whenever you’re dead sleepy

I was 18 years old when I first drove a car as I decided it was time for me to get my driving license. Even if I was never very much into cars and driving them has never been a hobby of mine, I can’t say that the lack of interest I’ve always proven concerning this area was somehow a disadvantage and I was never afraid of driving. My only fear was related to other people and their driving skills. You can never know the crazy people one can “intersect” on road.

The worst thing that can happen to someone is to fall asleep while driving, which is the cause of so many accidents nowadays. Fortunately for those who are bold enough to drive a car when being so very tired, the Mercedes E-class is smart enough to know when you’re on the point of closing your eyes and to attempt to wake you up. It sounds like a fairytale, isn’t it? Not to mention the fact that the car will also make a very strong suggestion to the exhausted driver: to make a pause and drink a cup of coffee.

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The guys over Mercedes worked hard on Attention Assist, an impressive program which is based on numerous studies, meticulously concretized in conclusions that are meant to help people whenever they need. They studied the connection between the brainwaves of sleepy individuals who dare to drive their cars and their physical behavior. This way, they managed to develop a car that is able to know when you’re on the point to fall asleep at the wheel.

The sensors placed in the steering wheel helps the system notice when something like this happens and a noisy alarm will immediately bring you back to reality. Then, as you can see in the picture above, the “pause” message will appear on the display, so you’ll know that is time for a coffee break.

This means that if you’re one of those who can hardly wait for the new E-class, which is expected to come out in 2009, you will most probably be among the fortunate ones to drive a smart car equipped with the Attention Assist. Let’s just hope that it won’t be smarter than the driver.