Real-Time Traffic and Environment Risk Estimation for the Optimisation of Human-Machine Interaction

The development of next generation driver-vehicle interaction systems should be focused towards obtaining a safe and sustainable mobility, with the aim to half the number of road accidents as proposed by the (2001). Mobility should be promoted in the future towards ‘intermodality’ in order to reduce traffic congestion and to optimise travel planning; however, towards this aim there is an increasing demand for on-board information systems. These needs together with the demand for new on-vehicle support and services and the need of the users to be connected to their own information cell (mobile phone, PDA, etc.) will unavoidably increase the number of interaction of the driver with the vehicle thus raising the potential risk of driver’s distraction and fatigue, which are among the main causes of road accidents.