The 24 Hours
The warning comes afterwards. The choice is made before the drive.
It is four in the afternoon and the cars are going by on the viaduct: the newest of them carry a warning system on board. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1341 makes DDAW systems compulsory for new vehicle types from 6 July 2022 and for all new cars from 7 July 2024, and it also sets a reference scale shared by every manufacturer: the warning is due from level eight out of nine. The system, though, recognises sleepiness once it has already begun: it warns, it does not prevent. It is a last safety net, not a permission to set off on a few hours of sleep. The warning comes afterwards, the choice is made before. How much you have slept decides the journey more than any sensor does.
0:00The viaduct
0:09The requirement
0:19The shared scale
0:28After it starts
0:35The last net
0:42The messageDetails 56 s · 9:16 · four languages · generated images, voice and music, declared as such · 2026-10-03 · Drive Awake
Leave the system on: it is a safety net, and nets are worth having. But the decision is made earlier, in the garage: how many hours you slept, when you leave, where you stop. And when the warning comes, the right answer is not to hold on to the next exit: it is to take that one.
Four in the afternoon. Cars stream across the viaduct, the newest with a system on board.
Four in the afternoon on the viaduct: the cars run down towards the valley and the recently registered ones carry a warning system on board.
Watch this passage (0:00) →
Since July 2024 every new car registered in Switzerland and the EU must warn a driver who is nodding off.
In the European Union, since 7 July 2024 every newly registered car must warn a driver who is nodding off. In Switzerland the requirement applies to new vehicles imported from 7 July 2024; for vehicles already on the road it remains optional. The system is called DDAW.
Watch this passage (0:09) →The sleepiness scale is the same for every car: the warning fires at eight out of nine.
Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1341, supplementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2144: DDAW systems are compulsory for new vehicle types from 6 July 2022 and for all new vehicles from 7 July 2024. It sets technical requirements, validation tests and a reference scale for measuring the driver's sleepiness, with alternative methods allowed only where the manufacturer documents their equivalence. The warning is due from level eight out of nine on the reference scale, the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale.
Watch this passage (0:19) →
But the system warns once sleepiness has already started. It doesn't see it coming.
The system picks up sleepiness once it has already begun. Behind the windscreen the warning comes after the fact, not before.
Watch this passage (0:28) →
It is a last safety net, not a green light. What still matters is how much you slept.
A sensor that warns is not a permission to set off on a few hours of sleep. What decides the journey is still the sleep that came before.
Watch this passage (0:35) →The same lines you see in the video, side by side. This is where the gaps between languages show: a turn of phrase that does not hold, a word out of place, a figure that changes weight. If you find one, the button next to the line opens the report with hour, language and minute already filled in. All episodes on one page →
line 1 0:01
IT
Le quattro del pomeriggio. Sul viadotto le auto scorrono, e le più nuove hanno un sistema a bordo.
FR
Quatre heures de l'après-midi. Sur le viaduc les voitures défilent, et les plus récentes ont un système à bord.
DE
Vier Uhr nachmittags. Auf dem Viadukt fahren die Autos vorbei, die neuesten mit einem System an Bord.
EN
Four in the afternoon. Cars stream across the viaduct, the newest with a system on board.
line 2 0:09
IT
Dal luglio 2024 ogni auto nuova immatricolata in Svizzera e nell'UE deve avvisare chi si assopisce.
FR
Depuis juillet 2024, toute voiture neuve immatriculée en Suisse et dans l'UE doit avertir le conducteur qui s'assoupit.
DE
Seit Juli 2024 muss jedes neu zugelassene Auto in der Schweiz und in der EU warnen, wenn jemand einnickt.
EN
Since July 2024 every new car registered in Switzerland and the EU must warn a driver who is nodding off.
line 3 0:20
IT
La scala della sonnolenza è la stessa per ogni auto: l'avviso scatta a otto su nove.
FR
L'échelle de somnolence est la même pour chaque voiture : l'alerte se déclenche à huit sur neuf.
DE
Die Schläfrigkeitsskala ist für jedes Auto gleich: Die Warnung kommt bei Stufe acht von neun.
EN
The sleepiness scale is the same for every car: the warning fires at eight out of nine.
line 4 0:29
IT
Il sistema però avvisa quando la sonnolenza è già cominciata. Non la vede arrivare.
FR
Mais le système avertit quand la somnolence a déjà commencé. Il ne la voit pas venir.
DE
Das System warnt aber erst, wenn die Schläfrigkeit schon begonnen hat. Es sieht sie nicht kommen.
EN
But the system warns once sleepiness has already started. It doesn't see it coming.
line 5 0:36
IT
È un'ultima rete, non un permesso. A decidere resta quanto hai dormito.
FR
C'est un dernier filet, pas une permission. Ce qui décide reste le sommeil d'avant.
DE
Es ist ein letztes Netz, keine Erlaubnis. Entscheidend bleibt der Schlaf davor.
EN
It is a last safety net, not a green light. What still matters is how much you slept.
line 6 0:43
IT
La spia si accende dopo. La scelta si fa prima di mettersi in strada.
FR
Le témoin s'allume après. Le choix se fait avant de prendre la route.
DE
Die Warnung kommt danach. Die Entscheidung fällt vor der Abfahrt.
EN
The warning comes afterwards. The choice is made before the drive.
A question about this hour · 16:00
What would you expect from an in-car system that warns of sleepiness, and what would you not expect from it?
There is no right answer: we are interested in the experience of people who drive, including for work.
The conversations happen on our channels. When there is one about this hour, we will link to it here.
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This episode is online. If something feels off, a word, a figure, a detail in the image, tell us below: two lines are enough. We read everything, and every correction goes into the diary, with its date.
We read every message. If it becomes a correction, the text changes here on the site and goes into the episode's diary, with its date and its reason. Corrections already made →
2026-10-03 · Drive Awake
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