New E-class Merc detects when the driver is drowsy

Road safety has been the most important feature in most cars of this age. And with the growing number of accidents, because of stressed out drivers, there had to be something done. So we have the all new Mercedes E-class with adaptive cruise control and Attention Assist. The former has been used before in the Benz 550 but the Attention Assist technology seems to be new to Mercedes turf. It uses 70 parameters to determine if a driver is asleep or dozing off. The moment it detects a clumsy driver, it rings an alarm to wake him/her up and also flashes a coffee symbol on the speedometer. The main entry point for values is the steering wheel, since dozing drivers have peculiar movements and impulses while on the wheel.

For Mercedes, this may be a new technology but if looked at from a broader scale, an identical concept was implemented in the Volvo S80.