ADDW Is Now Mandatory in the EU: What It Means for Driver Monitoring
Since 7 July 2026, every new vehicle placed on the market in the European Union must have an Advanced Driver Distraction Warning (ADDW) system. It applies to cars, vans, trucks and buses, and it puts a camera-based driver monitoring system into every new vehicle sold in the EU.
ADDW at a glance
- Legal basis: the General Safety Regulation, (EU) 2019/2144, with the technical requirements in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2590.
- New vehicle types: mandatory since 7 July 2024.
- All new vehicles: mandatory since 7 July 2026.
- Vehicles covered: categories M and N: passenger cars, buses and coaches, vans and trucks.
- What triggers a warning: the driver's gaze held too long on the area below the road view, such as the dashboard and center console, while driving.
- Privacy: no biometric information, including facial recognition, and data kept in a closed loop.
ADDW and DDAW are two different requirements
ADDW is the second driver monitoring requirement under the General Safety Regulation. The first, Driver Drowsiness and Attention Warning (DDAW), became mandatory for new vehicle types in July 2022 and for all new vehicles in July 2024. DDAW targets fatigue and can assess it indirectly, for example from steering patterns. ADDW targets visual distraction: it has to know where the driver is looking.
When ADDW has to warn the driver
Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2590 divides the driver's field of view into three areas:
- Area 1: peripheral regions, such as the roof and the far sides.
- Area 2: the forward view through the windshield and windows.
- Area 3: the area below, including the dashboard, the center console and the gear shift.
Glances into Area 3 are the ones the system must warn about. The warning has to come:
- At 50 km/h or above: after at most 3.5 seconds of gaze in Area 3.
- At 20 km/h or above: after at most 6 seconds.
The warning is visual, together with an acoustic and/or haptic warning. Manufacturers may also warn about long glances into Area 1.
Why eye tracking is at the core of it
A 3.5-second threshold means the system has to measure gaze, not estimate it. Head and eyes do not always move together: a driver can look down at a phone or a screen with very little head movement. So a distraction warning needs eye gaze and head pose together, measured reliably in conditions a lab rarely sees:
- Light: direct sunlight, night driving, and the change between them at a tunnel entrance.
- Eyewear: glasses and sunglasses in front of the eyes.
- Movement: drivers turn, lean and check their mirrors constantly.
- Occlusion: hands, the steering wheel and caps partly covering the face.
Privacy is part of the requirement
A camera facing the driver raises an obvious question, and the regulation answers part of it. ADDW must work without the use of biometric information, including facial recognition, of anyone in the vehicle. It must operate in a closed loop, recording and retaining only the data the system needs to function.
GazeSense for driver monitoring
Eyeware is a Swiss eye tracking research spin-off. Its GazeSense software brings eye tracking to driver monitoring systems built on automotive-grade 3D time-of-flight (ToF) sensors:
- Illumination robustness from 0 to 120 klx.
- Head tracking with a single sensor.
- Occupant monitoring for the driver and the passenger.
GazeSense is a research and prototyping SDK; it is not a type-approved ADDW system.
More on the GazeSense driver monitoring page and in automotive-grade eye tracking with 3D ToF cameras.
Frequently asked questions
Does ADDW apply to cars already on the road?
No. It applies to new vehicles placed on the market, registered or entered into service from 7 July 2026, and to new vehicle types from 7 July 2024.
Is ADDW the same as DDAW?
No. DDAW warns about drowsiness and reduced attention; ADDW warns about visual distraction, based on where the driver is looking.
Does ADDW use facial recognition?
No. The regulation requires it to work without biometric information, including facial recognition.
Which vehicles need ADDW?
Vehicles of categories M and N: passenger cars, buses and coaches, vans and trucks.