DRIVER ALERTNESS MONITORING INCLUDING A PREDICTIVE SLEEP RISK FACTOR

Alertness monitoring for vehicle driver which takes into account also the sleepiness of passengers in the vehicle, their number and their location in the vehicle (front or rear seat) to calculate the likelihood that the driver is becoming drowsy. [0002] An alertness detector is configured to detect an alertness condition of a driver of a vehicle and an alertness condition of a passenger in the vehicle. A controller is configured to determine a sleep risk factor based on the alertness condition of the passenger. The controller is also configured to determine a likelihood that the driver is sleepy based on the alertness condition of the driver and the sleep risk factor. The controller is configured to control a feature of the vehicle to assist the driver when the determined likelihood satisfies a predetermined criterion.