What happened
In late 2018 the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) began a five-phase trial of fatigue and distraction detectors. For Phase Two, researchers from HGH Consulting and CQUniversity interviewed 79 staff at 12 road freight and bus operators in 2019, along with eight suppliers. Seeing Machines' Guardian was by far the most common system. It recognizes the driver's facial expressions, alerts the driver and sends events to specialists at a monitoring center. The December 2019 report found that participants almost unanimously believed that the technology would profoundly reduce fatigue and distraction events. Most operators reported that incidents fell after they adopted it. For most operators, distraction made up about 80% of reported alerts, and most of the perceived benefit came from curbing phone use and other distraction. The researchers wrote that clear technical evidence of the technology's validity and reliability was still lacking. Only one supplier could provide even basic validation data, and no operator compared drivers with and without the technology. In a news release of 18 February 2020, NHVR's fatigue specialist said that the study found that the technology reduced these events.
Sources
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Descriptive report, by authors with no tie to the system.
Amongst participants there was a strong and almost unanimous belief that the effective use of fatigue and distraction detection technology will profoundly reduce the frequency of fatigue and distraction events while driving.
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Press release, by authors with no tie to the system.
National Heavy Vehicle Regulator. Fatigue technology found to deliver safety benefits. News release, 18 February 2020.
The study found that the use of technology significantly reduced the frequency of fatigue and distraction events and identifies possible events to help prevent crashes before they occur
Details
AI system
- Workflow
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Operators fitted in-cab cameras that recognize the driver's facial expressions, such as whether the eyes are open and on the road. The system alerted the driver in the cab with sound or seat vibration. For Guardian, specialists at a 24/7 monitoring center reviewed events before notifying the operator.
Follow-up
- Conditions for replication
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Drivers and company staff address every alert in real time. Drivers keep an absolute authority to stop whatever the technology shows. Drivers accept the cameras, and their support grew once they learned that only events were recorded.
Entry details
- Sector
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Heavy vehicle driver fatigue and distraction monitoring.
- Purpose
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Seeing Machines built Guardian to detect driver fatigue and distraction in the cab and to alert the driver and the fleet operator in real time.
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Cite this record
Peter H. Vartanian. (2026). Truck and bus fleets credit Guardian with fewer lapses at the wheel (AIBD-0933). Artificial Intelligence Benefits Database, edition of 1 November 2026. https://petervartanian.xyz/aibd/records/AIBD-0933.html (archived at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AADSII, version 7.0)