B. Soulmana, S. Boukebbab, M.S. Boulahlib

Pages: 69-84

Abstract
It is essential to always have a good position of the hands on the steering wheel, to act accurately and efficiently on the direction of a vehicle, and therefore on its trajectory, in order to keep control of the vehicle in all circumstances and to avoid collisions with other users. In this study, all the steering wheel positions were detected in a driving simulator through the performance of a monotonous task merging into highway traffic. hands positions (left and right) are ordered in three classifications; up hand, down hand, and zero hand for each hand. For this, the simulator driver has been equipped with several cameras to observe the placement of the hands on the wheel during the experiments conducted. The relationship between risk factors (crossing inappropriate lines and estimating perception-reaction time) with the driver's profile (gender, experience and driver behavior ) in the positioning of each hand on the steering wheel under the effect drowsiness and fatigue has been carried out. Results indicate that there is a relationship between the risk factors related to sleepiness fatigue and the position of the hands on the steering wheel, so the position of the hands can predict one of these factors and this contributes to the development of future assistance systems in cars.
Keywords: simulator; fatigue sleepiness; hand placement; perception-reaction time