Occupant Status Monitoring
The seatbelt remains the single-most important item of safety equipment in the car. Without it, occupants are unrestrained and other protective devices such as airbags are unable to work properly without the controlled, predictable kinematics which a seatbelt can provide.
The seatbelt remains the single-most important item of safety equipment in the car
Euro NCAP has, for many years, rewarded seatbelt reminders and such systems remain a central part of occupant status monitoring. In addition to SBR, new technologies exist which can monitor the condition of the driver: whether or not he or she is alert and paying attention to the driving task.
new technologies monitor the STatus of the driver: alertness and attention to the driving task
Driver fatigue and distraction can be major factors in accident causation and can be detected directly by eye-monitoring sensors, for example, or indirectly by identifying driving behaviours which are characteristic of an impaired driver.
Introduced in 2002. Upgraded in 2023.