How can drivers be quickly and safely brought back to an alert state after a short nap?

This question is becoming increasingly important as automated driving functions advance. While future vehicle systems could allow drivers to sleep temporarily, a critical phase arises during the transition back to active driving: so-called sleep inertia. This is a temporary state of reduced alertness and cognitive performance immediately after waking up—a potential safety risk in road traffic.

In the talk entitled “Sleeping during automated driving: The potential of an image-based reaction-time game to mitigate sleep inertia” at the HFES Europe Conference in Copenhagen, the WIVW presented a newly developed strategy against sleep inertia. The goal of this approach is to specifically activate drivers after a short nap and quickly improve their reaction time and mood.

The game is based on the so-called SILAB Secondary Task Software Package and has already been evaluated in an initial driving simulator study. The results show promising potential: participants were able to regain their alertness more quickly, which forms the basis for further optimizations and future applications.

The research was conducted as part of the SALSA project and funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The study thus makes an important contribution to the safe design of the transition between automated and manual driving—a crucial building block for the mobility of tomorrow

From 14 to 16 April, leading experts in automotive safety gathered in Frankfurt/Hanau for this year’s Safety Week. The event provided a platform for interdisciplinary exchange across the entire mobility chain – from industry and research to regulation and assessment.

The WIVW contributed with a specialist presentation on the topic of “Managing Complex ADAS – User Perspectives & Challenges to Proving Regulatory Compliance”. The focus was on a key challenge facing modern advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS): how can safety and regulatory compliance be ensured when system complexity is constantly increasing?

The presentation explored the inherent conflict between increasing system complexity and the practical challenges of validating safety. Increasing automation (L2–L4) necessitates not only higher functional performance but also a shift toward more transparent and rigorous assessment methodologies to ensure regulatory compliance.

The core themes of the presentation—specifically the tension between technological progress and the demonstrability of safety—were central throughout the entire event. These topics fueled a continuous, high-level technical exchange involving representatives from leading automotive manufacturers (OEMs), suppliers, research institutions, regulatory bodies, insurance companies, and Euro NCAP.

Together, concrete strategies to address the rising demands for safety and compliance within an increasingly complex system landscape were explored. This year’s Safety Week once again underscored that close, cross-industry cooperation is the essential foundation for developing viable solutions and ensuring the safe introduction of future vehicle generations.

How can we accurately estimate the effectiveness of C-ITS applications in reducing crashes, mitigating their consequences and improving comfort?

The Würzburg Institute for Traffic Sciences recently hosted a hybrid workshop, bringing together motorcycle original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and researchers from various disciplines to discuss motorcycle safety research. The workshop focused on developing a simulation framework to estimate the effectiveness of so-called C-ITS applications in reducing the frequency and severity of crashes, mitigating their consequences, and improving rider comfort. These Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) obtain information by communicating with other road users or the infrastructure.

The WIVW contributes to this effort by developing rider behaviour models based on human-in-the-loop simulator studies. These models are essential for creating realistic safety assessments in the simulation framework. This collaborative approach enables participants to share their expertise and knowledge, thereby advancing the field of motorcycle safety research by integrating industry insights with academic methodologies — a key strength of the Connected Motorcycle Consortium (CMC).

Last week, the Transport Committee of the Würzburg-Schweinfurt Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) held a meeting at the WIVW. After receiving a detailed presentation about the company and its extensive research and development work, the committee discussed various topics, including accelerated basic training for professional drivers and the current legislative process regarding the Infrastructure Future Act (InfZuG).

Around 25 participants from cities in the so-called Mainfranken area and from research institutions and companies were then able to familiarise themselves with the WIVW’s modern research infrastructure. They experienced the car and motorcycle simulators and had the opportunity to drive the SILAB TE simulators for simulator-based truck driver training and education themselves.

Photos: Simon Suffa

How do the vehicle dynamics of motorcycles influence the development and application of assistance systems? How does the design of display and control concepts differ from the passenger car sector, and what role do motorcycle simulators play in relation to future trends in motorcycle safety?

The standard work Handbook Assisted and Automated Driving, which is well established in the scientific context, is now also available in an English version following the fourth German edition. The comprehensive reference work offers a well-founded overview of the design, operating principles, and system architectures of modern driver assistance and automation systems. In addition to technological fundamentals, it also covers development and testing methods as well as related topics, such as the user-centered design of human-machine interfaces. The chapters on commercial vehicles and motorcycles have been thoroughly revised for the current edition.

The WIVW, together with colleagues from Robert Bosch GmbH (Bosch 2WP), BMW Motorrad, and KTM R&D, played a leading role in the chapter “Motorcycle Riding Assistance Systems.” This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the latest technologies, research methods and key issues relating to the safety of two-wheeled vehicles. A new chapter has also been added on the role of motorcycle simulators in current and future vehicle development, an area set to become increasingly digitalised.

We are particularly pleased that the book has been published as an open-access title and is available free of charge here.