Cost benefit analysis of drowsy driver warning system developed in Sweden.
Sweden
DROWSI Project Cost Benefit Analysis
Summary Information
This cost benefit analysis was conducted as part of the DROWSI (Drowsiness Intervention) project. DROWSI was a national research project conducted by Sweden's Intelligent Vehicle Safety Systems program. The DROWSI project was a collaborative initiative between AB Volvo, Volvo Cars, Autoliv, the Stress Research Institute at Stockholm University, VTI, Chalmers University of Technology and the Swedish Road Administration.
Driver sleepiness is considered to be a major cause and contributor to traffic crashes. Research suggests that 10 to 20 percent of all crashes are caused by driver sleepiness. A warning system addressed to sleepy drivers could be a countermeasure to reduce the number of sleep related crashes. A cost benefit analysis was performed to relate the possible traffic safety benefits from the installation of a sleepiness warning system to the costs.
Payback periods for a drowsy driver warning system were estimated based upon initial expected crash cost, reductions due to the warning system, and the installation costs as follows:
- Passenger cars, 5 to 75 years before installation costs recovered.
- Trucks, 3 to 36 years before installation costs recovered.
- Heaviest trucks (load capacity 16,000 to 17,000 kg), 0.8 to 10 years before installation costs recovered.