Blue LEDs Keep Awake Tired Drivers
Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are developing a new system to help the drivers engaged in night journeys to stay awake the entire way. Integrating blue LEDs in truck cabs and truck stops could be a way to reducing accidents caused by drivers that fell asleep behind the wheel.
They say that the blue light will shine at particular wavelengths to convince the brain it is morning, resetting the body’s natural clock. The LEDs can emit light spectra of 450 and 470 nanometers and can be installed into goggles that drivers will wear for a certain period of time before getting on the road.
This method should decrease the number of accidents that happen at night. Almost 30% of all fatal crashes involving large trucks in the US happen during the night period.
This seems feasible. It is proven that blue and blue-green light of very specific wavelengths can reset or alter circadian rhythms of most mammals. I’m thinking that this would need to be done at least an hour before driving and for a duration of 25 to 40 minutes depending on the amplitude and frequency of the light.