German researchers have said that a device monitoring eye movements could warn that a winding road needs driver attention.

Study author Farid Kandil of the University of Munster in Germany says in a statement, "If the driver does not show his typical pattern of eye movements upon approaching a bend, then the system will assume that he has not seen it and will warn him in time."

Kandil's goal is to build an in-car device that warns the driver in danger of unintentionally departing from the lane.

Kandil and colleagues have reported that so far, drivers' eyes predictably tend to look at a "tangent" point on the lane when negotiating a curve. The further drivers can look ahead, in left-hand curves, side curves and leaving a curve, the less they look at the tangent point.

Published in the Journal of Vision, the study also finds drivers entering a right-bound curve, spend more time looking at the tangent point.

It has further been reported that Kandil and colleagues based their findings on eye movement data recorded as six drivers test-drove repeatedly through a series of 12 right- and left-hand bends. The experiments were conducted in continental European/U. S. style right-hand traffic. (With Inputs from Agencies)