A blood alcohol level sensing system for a vehicle is steering wheel with infrared sensors that are able to detect variations in body chemistry from contact with the palms of the hands to determine if a driver is either alcohol impaired or impaired from certain medical conditions that might affect driving. The system has a digital readout that may be located on the dashboard of the vehicle, and the readout may also be transmitted to a cell phone. In the event of an exceedance of a predetermined set point, an interlock will interrupt the start circuit of the vehicle to prevent it from starting.

A vehicle alert apparatus includes: a drowse detector that detects drowse of a driver; an inattention detector that detects inattention of the driver; a vehicle speed detector that detects the vehicle speed; a notification portion that executes alert for the driver; and an alert controller that controls the alert executed by the notification portion based on a detection result of the drowse of the driver, a detection result of the inattention of the driver, or a detection result of the vehicle speed.

Methods, computing entities, systems, and computer program products for monitoring alertness of an operator of a vehicle are provided. In an example embodiment, a mobile computing entity receives biometric data and behavior data for the operator. The biometric data and behavior data captured by at least one of a wearable sensor, a visual sensor, or a vehicle sensor onboard the vehicle. The mobile computing entity determines an alertness level of the operator based at least in part on the biometric data and the behavior data using a model that is personalized for the operator. Responsive to determining that the alertness level of the operator satisfies a first treatment level threshold, the mobile computing entity initiates an operator engagement interaction to increase the alertness level of the operator.

Systems and methods for improving vehicular safety are provided. According to certain aspects, an electronic device may receive and analyze image data depicting an individual located within a vehicle. The electronic device may also access certain data related to a condition of the individual, and may accordingly determine whether the individual is fit to operate the vehicle. If the individual is unfit to operate the vehicle, the electronic device may generate and display a notification that warns of the dangers of operating the vehicle and encourages the individual to not operate the vehicle.

A movable carrier auxiliary system includes a driver state detecting device and a warning device. The driver state detecting device includes a physiological state detecting module, a storage module, and an operation module. The physiological state detecting module is adapted to detect a physiological state of a driver. The storage module is disposed in a movable carrier and stores an allowable parameter corresponding to the at least one physiological state. The operation module is disposed in the movable carrier and is electrically connected to the physiological state detecting module and the storage module to detect whether the at least one physiological state of the driver exceeds the allowable parameter or not, and to correspondingly generate a detection signal. The warning device generate a warning message when the detection signal that the at least one physiological state of the driver exceeds the allowable parameter is received.

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.

A method for determining driver distraction in a vehicle is disclosed. The method comprises receiving a signal comprising information about user-interaction with an in-vehicle human machine interface (HMI), and determining a first state of the driver based on the received information. The first state comprises at least one distraction parameter. Further, the method comprises determining a second state of a driver of the vehicle by means of a driver monitoring system (DMS), where the second state of the driver comprises at least one attention parameter, and sending a signal to a control system of the vehicle based on the determined first state of the driver and the determined second state of the driver. A corresponding computer-readable storage media, a control device, and a vehicle are also disclosed.

A vehicle safety support apparatus includes: a driver monitoring unit configured to monitor a driver; an external environment monitoring unit configured to monitor an external environment of a vehicle; and a control unit configured to: perform a controlled lane keeping function based on data acquired from the driver monitoring unit and the external environment monitoring unit; detecting whether a driver reacts to the controlled lane keeping function; determine a driving control for the vehicle in response to the driver not reacting to the controlled lane keeping function; perform autonomous driving to move the vehicle to a safe area, in response to determining to take over the driving control from the driver.

A method for detecting drowsiness of a driver for a driver assistance system of a vehicle includes reading in at least a first indicator signal that represents a first drowsiness parameter of the driver determined by a first drowsiness-detection device of the vehicle, and a second indicator signal that represents a second drowsiness parameter of the driver determined by a second drowsiness-detection device of the vehicle, and optionally a third indicator signal that represents a third drowsiness parameter of the driver determined by a third drowsiness-detection device of the vehicle; ascertaining validities of the indicator signals; and determining a drowsiness signal that represents the detected drowsiness of the driver utilizing the indicator signals and the validities.

A driver assistance system of a vehicle can adjust a warning time-point for a hands-off detector configured to detect that a hand of a driver is off of a steering wheel. To this end, the driver assistance system can include an image acquisition device configured to acquire image data of an area outside of the vehicle, a sensor configured to acquire behavior data of the vehicle, a hands-off detector configured to detect that a hand of the driver is off of the steering wheel, and a controller. The controller is configured to determine a driving situation of the vehicle based on the image data and behavior data, and to determine a warning time-point for the hands-off detector based on the driving situation. The controller can further control a warning device to output a warning message for the hands-off at the determined warning time-point.