A ‘smart’ seatbelt has been developed in Spain designed to warn drivers if they are starting to fall asleep at the wheel.
The seatbelt will monitor heart rate and can detect when breathing and heart rate slow down.
It will issue a warning alarm so that the driver can pull over.
The new system – dubbed HARKEN - also takes a second reading from a special seat cover.
Jose Solaz, of the Biomechanics Institute in Valencia, Spain, said: “The variation in heart and respiratory rate are good indicators of the state of the driver as they are related to fatigue.”
His team has run successful tests on race circuits and will shortly begin trialling vehicles in the streets of Spain in order to see how well the technology works in traffic scenarios.
Countless thousands of fatal accidents could be prevented every year if the belts function well.
The majority (85%) of sleep-related crashes are caused by male drivers, a third of whom are below the age of 30. Truck drivers and shift workers are most at risk of falling asleep while driving.
The most dangerous times are between 2am and 6am in the morning or just after lunch, between 2pm and 4pm in the afternoon.
