A method for controlling a driving assistance feature of a vehicle is disclosed. The method comprises determining a state of a driver of the vehicle by means of a driver monitoring system (DMS) the state of the driver comprising at least one attention parameter, and comparing the determined state of the driver with a predefined attention model. The predefined attention model comprises an independent threshold range for each attention parameter. The method further comprises controlling the driving assistance feature based on the comparison between the determined state of the driver and the predefined attention model.

Provided are an apparatus and method for monitoring driver's concentrativeness capable of monitoring whether a driver is concentratedly obtaining major information by tracing a driver's sight while a vehicle is running, in order to provide alarm to the driver when driver's concentrativeness is dropped at a time when the major information is changed while the vehicle is running.

This disclosure relates to a system and method for transitioning vehicle control between autonomous operation and manual operation. The system includes sensors configured to generate output signals conveying information related to the vehicle and its operation. During autonomous vehicle operation, the system gauges the level of responsiveness of a vehicle operator through challenges and corresponding responses. The system determines when to present a challenge to the vehicle operator based on internal and external factors. If necessary, the system will transition from an autonomous operation mode to a manual operation mode.

A system for a vehicle operable in a user-controlled driving mode and an automatic driving mode includes a hand-operated control element and a contact sensor configured to detect whether a driver of the vehicle is holding the control element. The system further includes a controller to monitor an alertness of the driver while the vehicle is in the automatic driving mode depending on whether the driver is holding the control element and/or switch operation of the vehicle between the user-controlled driving mode and the automatic driving mode depending on whether the driver is holding the control element.

A system for a vehicle operable in a user-controlled driving mode and an automatic driving mode includes a hand-operated control element and a contact sensor configured to detect whether a driver of the vehicle is holding the control element. The system further includes a controller to monitor an alertness of the driver while the vehicle is in the automatic driving mode depending on whether the driver is holding the control element and/or switch operation of the vehicle between the user-controlled driving mode and the automatic driving mode depending on whether the driver is holding the control element.

To determine impairment due to drugs or alcohol, an image capture component captures video of at least a head of a test subject. Cropped head images of the head of the test subject are extracted from sequential images of the video. For each cropped head image, a gaze angle of the test subject is determined from the cropped head image. The determined gaze angles are analyzed to determine horizontal nystagmus and/or angle of onset of nystagmus. A level of impairment of the test subject is determined from the horizontal nystagmus and/or angle of onset of nystagmus. A visual representation of the level of impairment of the test subject is generated on an associated display.

A vehicle control system includes at least one processor and a storage medium configured to store a program to be executed by the at least one processor. The program includes at least one command. The at least one command causes the at least one processor to execute a key lock-out prevention process of controlling a lock mechanism of a door of a vehicle into an unlocked state in a case where a key that operates the lock mechanism is positioned inside the vehicle, and a vehicle protection process of controlling the lock mechanism into a locked state without executing the key lock-out prevention process in a case where, after automatic stop of the vehicle, an occupant present inside the vehicle is not detected and the key is positioned inside the vehicle.

A vehicle control system includes at least one processor and a storage medium configured to store a program to be executed by the at least one processor. The program includes at least one command. The at least one command causes the at least one processor to execute a key lock-out prevention process of controlling a lock mechanism of a door of a vehicle into an unlocked state in a case where a key that operates the lock mechanism is positioned inside the vehicle, and a vehicle protection process of controlling the lock mechanism into a locked state without executing the key lock-out prevention process in a case where, after automatic stop of the vehicle, an occupant present inside the vehicle is not detected and the key is positioned inside the vehicle.

A driving support device for a vehicle includes: a detector that detects a driving condition of a driver; a memory that stores a proper driving condition of the driver; and a controller that compares a detected driving condition with the proper driving condition stored in the memory, calculates a difference between the detected driving condition and the proper driving condition, and executes a notification operation to the driver according to the difference when the controller recognizes the difference. The controller executes the notification operation to facilitate a recovery to the proper driving condition. Thus, the driving support device reduces uncomfortable feeling of the driver when the controller executes the notification operation.

A system for monitoring the sobriety of a user is provided. The system may include a testing device that generates a substance content signal. The testing device may further include a mouthpiece and a user identification device. The user identification device may generate user identification data in response to a user’s breath and may transmit it from the testing device to a monitoring station. The testing device may further include at least one of an LCD screen or a light-emitting diode (“LED”) light. At least one of the LCD screen or the LED light may display at least one randomly generated visible identification indicia.