FitDrive is an EU grant funded project to develop and test devices to detect driver impairment. The aim of the project is to reduce the risk of accidents and improve road safety. This will be achieved by the FitDrive device and associated software, which, when installed in a vehicle, can be used to notify the driver or other necessary parties when the driver is suffering from an impairment that could impact their driving ability and / or road safety.

Driving a vehicle is a complex and dynamic task and there is a wide range of conditions that temporarily affect the ability to drive safely. Professional drivers are particularly affected by fatigue. The main effect of fatigue is a progressive withdrawal of attention from the road and traffic demands leading to impaired driving performance.

Professional drivers tend to work long, irregular hours, and the work can include night time driving, shift work and other factors that affect sleep which can lead to fatigue. Fatigue causes reduced alertness, longer reaction times, memory problems, poorer psychometric coordination, and less efficient information processing. The results of different surveys world-wide show that over 50% of long-haul drivers have at some time almost fallen asleep at the wheel.

Drugs and alcohol have also the potential to adversely affect driving skills; the project will also develop screening methods to detect new drugs and to reduce the time needed to perform the tests.

FITDrive’s goal is to decrease traffic accidents by 6% by early identification of drivers affected by impairment causes.

The FitDrive project is being undertaken by ten partners.

Fundacion Instituto Tecnologico De Castilla Y Leon (ICTL), Spain. www.ictl.es
Associazione Italiana Dei Professionisti Per La Sicurezza Stradale (AIPSI), Italy. www.aipsi.org
Mäelardalens Höegskola (MDH), Sweden www.mdh.se
Advantic Sistemas Y Servicios Sl (ADSYS), Spain. www.advanticsys.com
Universita Degli Studi Di Roma La Sapienza (UNISAP), Italy. www.uniroma1.it
Europaische Fahrlehrer Assoziation (EFA), Germany. www.efa-eu.com
Securetec Detektions-Systeme Ag. (SECURETEC), Germany. www.securtek.com
Eliocity (XEE), France. www.xee.com
European Professional Drivers Association (EPDA), Ireland. www.epda.ie
Aselsan Elektronik Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi (ASELSAN), Turkey. www.aselsan.com.tr

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 953432