News: Wake Up! Anti Sleep Pilot for iPhone Helps Curb Tiredness Behind the Wheel

Always falling asleep behind the wheel? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that there are over 56,000 sleep-related accidents each year, resulting in 40,000 injuries and 1,550 deaths annually in the United States. Don't want to be a statistic? Then you may want to try out ASP Technology's mobile application which aims to keep you awake when you're fatigued on the road.

ASP Technology is known for their Anti Sleep Pilot device, a small gadget that you place on your dash that calculates your fatigue level, maintains your alertness, and recommends you take a break when you're in the danger zone of falling asleep behind the wheel. But there are few motorists willing to spend $180 on it when they could be putting it towards gas or car insurance. And that's why ASP has created a mobile app version of Anti Sleep Pilot for iPad and iPhone, costing just $20, which could be money well spent if you have problems staying awake when driving your vehicle.

It's been out for about six months now, but it's definitely worth checking out. Anti Sleep Pilot was developed in collaboration with sleep scientists to create a patented algorithm to track real-time fatigue levels based on 26 parameters such as driving duration, time of day and reaction times. And it's completely personalized to each user, thanks to a pre-submitted personal risk profile, which asks you your age, sex, body mass index and the hours per week you work and sleep at night. It then can recommend preventive driving breaks and administer alertness tests before fatigue puts you into a dangerous situation.

The only problem is that it's only available for iOS devices. Android users are out of luck, but maybe one day they'll develop one for the Android Market.

More driving related apps that you should check out.

• DriveSafe.ly  (Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile)
  A mobile application that reads text (SMS) messages and emails aloud in real time and automatically responds without drivers touching the mobile phone.
• Rest Area  (iPhone)
  Based on your current location, or any other location you configure, Rest Area will retrieve the closest rest areas in the area and display them on a map or in a customized listing.
• Bad Driver  (Android)
  An extremely light-weight, easy-to-use app for reporting bad drivers on the road. Get out that road rage by actually doing something about it, or give props to someone for driving well!
• Avego Driver  (iPhone)
  Avego will offer your empty seats to other people along your route in real time. Avego shares the cost of the journey between the driver and rider, saving everyone time and money.
• Careful Driver  (Android)
  Powerful tool using GPS and violation warnings to encourage safe driving habits.
• Driver Feedback  (iPhone)
  State Farm's safety app scores your driving and gives you tips to help you drive even better in three of the riskiest driving behaviors—hard acceleration, hard deceleration and hard swerves.
• DriveReply (Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile)
  A driver safety application that assists the driver in staying focussed on the road. The phone is silenced when a call or text message comes in while the vehicle is traveling at speeds greater than 15 miles per hour.
• Garage Buddy  (iPhone)
  Your one stop shop for car themed calculators, converters, tables and more.