SE539087C2 - Method and control unit for illuminating traffic related objects - Google Patents

Abstract

16 SUMMARY Method (600) and control unit (700) for assisting a driver of a vehicle (100) in observing arelevant traffic related object (120) on, or in vicinity of a road (110). The method (400)comprises: detecting (402) a traffic related object (120) ahead in the driving direction (105)of the vehicle (100); determining (403) if the detected (402) traffic related object (120) isrelevant; and directing (404) at least a segment of the vehicle headlights (140) towards thedetected (402) traffic related object (120) when said object (120) is determined to be rele- vant. (Pubi. Fig. 1)

Description

METHOD AND CONTROL UNIT FOR ILLUMINATING TRAFFIC RELATED OBJECTS TECHNICAL FIELD This document discloses a method and a control unit. More particularly, a method and acontrol unit is described, for assisting a driver of a vehicle in observing a relevant trafficrelated object, by directing at least a segment of the vehicle headlights towards the rele-vant traffic related object.

BACKGROUND Vehicle drivers often have to drive their vehicles in darkness and/ or other situations withreduced visibility, such as e.g. cloudy sky in combination with heavy rain, hail, snow, bliz-zard, fog, smoke, pollution, or similar weather conditions. ln such reduced visibility situations, the driver may not see relevant information such astraffic signs, road signs etc.

The problem for the driver is not only the darkness in itself, but the lights of the vehicle areusually arranged for illuminating the drive way, not traffic signs which usually are situatedon poles approximately 2-3 meters above the ground. Also, the driver may become dazzledby the headlights of a meeting vehicle driving in opposite direction. Thus when driving atnight time, the eyes of the driver continuously has to adapt to the varying light conditions,which may be a problem in particular for elderly drivers, or people suffering from shortageof vitamin A. Some drivers may also suffer from nyctalopia, or night blindness, which is acondition making it difficult or impossible to see in relatively low light. lt is a symptom ofseveral eye diseases. Night blindness may exist from birth, or be caused by injury or mal-nutrition, and it can be described as insufficient adaptation to darkness.

To continuously drive with the headlights on may solve the problem of being able to seetraffic signs on the road side. However, other road users may be dazzled, so it is not a fea-sible (or legal) solution.

As not being able to see a traffic sign, or other relevant traffic related information may af-fect the driving and traffic security, it would be desired to find a solution to the above de-scribed problem.

SUMMARY lt is therefore an object of this invention to solve at least some of the above problems andimprove traffic security, in particular when driving in poor visibility.

According to a first aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a method in a ve-hicle, for assisting a driver of a vehicle in observing a relevant traffic related object on, or invicinity of a road. The method comprises detecting a traffic related object ahead in the driv-ing direction of the vehicle. Further the method comprises determining if the detected trafficrelated object is relevant. The method additionally comprises directing at least a segmentof the vehicle headlights towards the detected traffic related object when said object is de- termined to be relevant.

According to a second aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a control unit ina vehicle. The control unit is configured for assisting a driver of a vehicle in observing arelevant traffic related object on, or in vicinity of a road in a reduced visibility situation. Thecontrol unit comprises a processing circuit configured for detecting a traffic related objectahead in the driving direction of the vehicle, via a sensor. The processing circuit is alsoconfigured for determining if the detected traffic related object is relevant. ln addition, theprocessing circuit is also additionally configured for generating control signals for directingat least a segment of the vehicle headlights towards the detected traffic related object when said object is determined to be relevant.

Thanks to the described aspects, a driver in a vehicle approaching a traffic related objectsuch as a traffic sign, a cross walk or similar, is alerted on the traffic related object as it isilluminated by a segment of the headlights. Thus the risk of the driver not observing e.g. atraffic sign is reduced, when driving in a reduced visibility situation. Thus increased trafficsecurity is achieved.

Other advantages and additional novel features will become apparent from the subsequentdetailed description.

FIGURES Embodiments of the invention will now be described in further detail with reference to theaccompanying figures, in which:Figure 1 illustrates an example of a vehicle equipped with an embodiment of the in- venfion; Figure 2 illustrates an example of a vehicle equipped with an embodiment of the in-venfion; Figure 3 illustrates an example of a vehicle equipped with an embodiment of the in-venfion; Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of the method; Figure 5 is an illustration depicting a system according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the invention described herein are defined as a method, a control unit anda system, which may be put into practice in the embodiments described below. These em-bodiments may, however, be exemplified and realised in many different forms and are notto be limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these illustrative examples of embod-iments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete.

Still other objects and features may become apparent from the following detailed descrip-tion, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. lt is to be understood,however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as adefinition of the limits of the herein disclosed embodiments, for which reference is to bemade to the appended claims. Further, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scaleand, unless othen/vise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.

Figure 1 illustrates a scenario with a vehicle 100 driving in a driving direction 105 on a road110, approaching a traffic related object 120 such as e.g. a traffic sign. The vehicle 100comprises a sensor 130, configured for detecting traffic related objects 120 in the drivingdirection 105 of the vehicle 100. Further, the vehicle 100 comprises headlights 140, forilluminating the road 110 ahead of the vehicle 100 in the driving direction 105. However, asegment of the headlights 140 may be directed towards the traffic sign 120, detected bythe sensor 130, for illuminating it. Further, in some embodiments, the vehicle 100 maycomprise a light sensor 150, for determining low light and/ or obscure light conditions, such as at night time, in twilight, in fog, or when the sun is concealed with clouds.

The vehicle 100 may comprise a truck, a bus, a car, a motorcycle, or similar means of con- veyance.

The headlights 140 typically comprises two projection headlights being spaced apart fromeach other, which are arranged in the front of the vehicle 100 at the right and left sides re-spectively and which each may form a headlight unit. Alternativeiy, the headlights 140 maycomprise a plurality of projection headlights arranged in the front and/ or at the roof of thevehicle 100.

The headlights 140 may comprise “smart” lights on the vehicle 100. This means that thefront headlights 140 can be adapted and optimised dependent on the surrounding. lt mayfor example, in some embodiments be possible to keep the high beam even if the vehicle100 meets another vehicle on the road 110, without dazzle the driver of the meeting vehi-cle. This is realisable by turning of segments of the headlights 140. Such adaptive head-lights 140 may further e.g. cast their beam in the direction of a curve and ensure bettervisibility and more safety during night drives on winding roads.

The headlights 140 may thus comprise a plurality of segments, which may be directed to-wards an object 120, independently from each other. The headlights 140 may for example,but not necessarily comprise a plurality of Light-Emitting Diode (LED) lamp units. ln otherembodiments, the headlights 140 may comprise xenon lights, High-intensity Dischargelamps (HID), Halogen lnfrared Reflective (HIR) lamps, tungsten-halogen lamps and/ ortungsten lamps, or similar kinds of lamps. The headlights 140 may sometimes also be re-ferred to as headlamps.

Thus when the sensor 130, which may comprise a fon/vard-facing camera in the driver areaof the vehicle 100, detects the traffic related object 120 such as a traffic sign, informationfrom additional sensors in the vehicle 100 may be collected, such as e.g. speed, steeringangle and yaw (degree of rotation around the vertical axis). Based on this information,small electric motors turn at least one segment of the headlights 140 left or right (typicallyright), and/ or up or down (typically up) so that a part of the light beam falls on the trafficsign 120. ln some embodiments, different segments of the headlights 140 may be directed towardsdifferent detected traffic related objects 120 simultaneously.

Besides comprising a camera, the sensor 130 in other embodiments may comprise e.g. astereo camera, a film camera, or similar device based on radar, infra-red light or micro WaVeS. ln some embodiments, the sensor 130 may comprise, or cooperate with another sensorbased on laser, radar or microwaves, for determining the distance to the traffic related ob-ject 120. This information may be utilised for correctly direct the segment of the light beamtowards the traffic related object 120 while driving.

According to some embodiments, the sensor 130 may comprise camera, laser or radarsensors already existing on the vehicle 100, for other driving assistance functions. By reus-ing already existing equipment on the vehicle 100 also for detecting traffic signs 120 andcontrolling the headlights 140, a great advantage is achieved from a traffic security point ofview, without additional hardware costs. ln some embodiments, the traffic related object 120 which is lit up/ flashed by the head-lights 140 may comprise e.g. passengers on a bus stop shall enter the vehicle 100 (in casethe vehicle 100 is a bus). ln some embodiments, the traffic related object 120 may comprise a traffic sign which isconsidered in particular relevant due to an ongoing, or future traffic violation such as e.g.road load class overload, over speeding, or when there is an increased risk of an upcomingdangerous situation such as e.g. when there is a risk for a danger situation due to e.g. tohigh speed in oncoming curve, road crosswalk with people, vehicle higher that the oncom-ing viaduct, wild animals beside the road 110 ahead etc.

Thereby, the driver's attention is directed towards the traffic related object 120 and the po-tential danger it represents. Thus driving at night, or in poor visibility conditions becomessafer.

An advantage with having a light sensor 150 is that the method may be activated onlywhen darkness and/ or poor visibility is detected, in some embodiments. Thereby energymay be saved, as the driver anyway may see the surrounding traffic related objects 120 indaylight. Alternatively, a warning sound, a spoken message, a tactile signal or a text mes-sage on a display may be emitted in any of the above described situations in some embod-iments, during daylight. The light sensor 150 may comprise a photo detector.

The optional light sensor 150 generates an output signal indicating the intensity of light bymeasuring the radiant energy that exists in the range of frequencies basically called “light”,and which ranges in frequency from “lnfra-red” to “Visible” up to “Ultraviolet” light spectrum.

The light sensor 150 is a passive device that convert “light energy” whether visible or in theinfra-red parts of the spectrum into an electrical signal output. Light sensors 150 maysometimes also be known as “Photoelectric Devices” or “Photo Sensors” because theyconvert light energy (photons) into electricity (electrons). Further, the light sensor 150 maygenerate electricity when illuminated, such as Photo-voltaics or Photo-emissives etc. Alter-natively, the light sensor 150 may change their electrical properties in some way such asPhoto-resistors or Photo-conductors.

Figure 2 illustrates an example of how the previously scenario in Figure 1 may be per-ceived by the driver of the vehicle 100, approaching a traffic related object 120, here repre-sented by a pedestrian crossing and a traffic sign.

The traffic related object 120 is detected by the sensor 130 in the vehicle 100. The sensor130 may be based on e.g. colour based detection methods, shape based detection of traf-fic signs, based on machine learning, or a combination thereof.

The identification of the road signs may be achieved by two main stages: detection, andrecognition. ln the detection phase, the image is pre-processed, enhanced, and segmentedaccording to the sign properties such as colour or shape. Further, traffic signs may be cat-egorised into e.g. danger warning signs, priority signs, prohibitory or restrictive signs, man-datory signs, special regulation signs, information, facilities, or service signs, direction, po-sition, or indication signs and/ or additional panels. Based on the category, the traffic sign120 may be recognised as relevant or important.

Further, the vehicle 100 comprises a control unit 200, configured for assisting the driver ofthe vehicle 100 in observing a relevant traffic related object 120 on, or in vicinity of the road110 in a reduced visibility situation. The control unit 200 retrieves sensor signals from thesensor 130 and analyse those signals in some embodiments, for estimating their relevancefor the vehicle 100. Thereby, the traffic related object 120 may be categorised as important,or non-important, based on the type of vehicle 100, physical properties of the vehicle 100such as weight or height, speed etc. Further, some types of traffic related objects 120 mayalways be categorised as important, such as e.g. crosswalks, when driving against the driv-ing direction on a one way road, “Do not enter” signs, etc.

By categorising some traffic related objects 120 as important, and also direct at least asegment of the headlights 140 only to the traffic related objects 120 categorised as im- portant, it may be assured that the driver attend the road sign, or corresponding traffic re-lated feature.

Thus, an advantage with illuminating not all detected traffic related objects 120, but onlythe ones considered really relevant for the vehicle 100 and its driver reduces the risk thatthe driver neglects the traffic sign 120. ln some embodiments, different segments of the headlight 140 may be directed into differ-ent directions, such that one segment is directed towards the traffic sign 120, another seg-ment may be directed towards the left side of the street, where the cross walk starts andyet another segment may be directed towards the right side of the street, at the cross walkend. Thereby, pedestrians walking in darkness may be detected, also when they do notcarry retroreflector (sometimes called a retroflector or cataphote).

Figure 3 schematically illustrates a scenario, similar to the previously discussed scenario illustrated in Figure 1 and Figure 2, but seen from an above perspective.

At least a segment of the vehicle headlights 140 is directed towards the detected trafficrelated object 120. However, in this embodiment the vehicle headlights 140, or a segmentthereof, are flashing. Thus the driver's attention may be further directed towards the trafficsign 120. Thereby an escalation may be achieved.

Flashing with the vehicle headlights 140 may be in particular effective when driving in darkor obscure light conditions, such as at night time, in twilight, in fog, or when the sun is con-cealed with clouds.

Upon detecting the traffic related object 120, the driver may be attended to the approachingpotential danger in some embodiments, e.g. by a text message on a screen in the driverarea in the vehicle 100, an acoustic warning from a loudspeaker in the driver area of thevehicle 100, a haptic signal or tactile feedback in the steering wheel, driver seat or similar.

Further, in some embodiments when the vehicle 100 is driving with the low beam on, e.g.in bad light condition, in tvvilight etc., flashing may be made with the segment of the vehicleheadlights 140 directed towards the detected traffic related object 120, between high beamand low beam, while the other segments of the headlights 140 directed towards the road110 may be held constantly on low beam, in some embodiments. Thereby, the driver'sattention may be caught, without dazzling or disturbing any other road user.

Figure 4 illustrates an example of a method 400 according to an embodiment. The flowchart in Figure 4 shows the method 400 for use in a vehicle 100 for assisting a driver of thevehicle 100 in observing a relevant traffic related object 120 on, or in vicinity of a road 110,e.g. in a reduced visibility situation, in twilight, at night, in rain, in fog, in snow or similar weather conditions.

Such traffic related object 120 may comprise a potential vehicle stop, such as a bus stop,loading dock, driveway, garage entrance or similar in some embodiments. The traffic relat-ed object 120 may comprise a traffic sign in some embodiments. ln order to correctly be able to assist the driver in observing a relevant traffic related object120, the method 400 may comprise a number of steps 401-405. However, some of thesesteps 401-405 may be performed solely in some alternative embodiments, like e.g. step401 or 405. Further, the described steps 401-405 may be performed in a somewhat differ-ent chronological order than the numbering suggests. The method 400 may comprise thesubsequent steps: Step 401 may be performed only in some particular embodiments. Step 401 comprisesdetecting a reduced visibility situation by means of a light sensor 150 and activating themethod 400 only when reduced visibility is detected.

Thus the method 400 according to some embodiments may be performed only when thelight detected by the light sensor 150 is lower than a threshold value. Thereby energy issaved, as enlightening the traffic related object 120 is superfluous in daylight. ln some al-ternative embodiments, the driver may be informed by other means of the traffic relatedobject 120, i.e. by an auditive signal, voice message, a tactile signal, a message on thedisplay etc.

Step 402 comprises detecting the traffic related object 120 ahead in the driving direction105 of the vehicle 100.

The traffic related object 120 may be detected by the sensor 130, which may comprise afront camera in the vehicle 100, which together with image interpreting logic in the control unit 200 may detect the traffic related object 120.

Step 403 comprises determining if the detected 402 traffic related object 120 is relevant.

The relevance of the detected 402 traffic related object 120 may be determined by the con-trol unit 200.

The step of determining if the detected 402 traffic related object 120 is relevant may com-prise recognising the type of the traffic sign and determining that said traffic sign is relevantwhen it either is identified as a particular type of traffic sign, or when the traffic sign carryinformation informing about an upcoming traffic violation, when compared to obtained traf-fic related vehicle data.

Thus “relevant” in this context may indicate that the traffic related object 120 is relevant forthe particular situation for the vehicle 100, such as e.g. enlightening a bus stop with pas-sengers waiting in case the vehicle 100 is a bus, but not when the vehicle 100 is a motor-cycle, for example.

The mentioned particular set of traffic signs may comprise e.g. prohibition signs, crosswalksigns, speed limit signs. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the particular set of trafficsigns may be configurable.

The upcoming traffic violation may comprise over speeding when the obtained velocity ofthe vehicle 100 exceeds a speed limit of a detected speed limit sign, road load class over-load when the weight of the vehicle 100 exceeds a road load limit of a detected road sign,an oncoming viaduct being lower than the height of the vehicle 100, or similar.

There by the driver's attention is directed towards the upcoming traffic violation which maybe potentially dangerous and accident causing. Thus a possible accident may be avoided.

Step 404 comprises directing at least a segment of the vehicle headlights 140 towards thedetected 402 traffic related object 120 when said object 120 is determined to be relevant. ln some embodiments, escalated warnings may be added when the driver of the vehicle100 does not react on the redirection of at least a segment of the vehicle headlights 140towards the detected 402 traffic related object 120 when said object 120 is determined tobe relevant, by adding vibrations and/ or acoustic signals for alerting the driver.

Step 405 may be performed only in some particular embodiments of the method 400. Theoptional step 405 may comprise flashing with at least a segment of the vehicle headlights140 directed 404 towards the detected 402 traffic related object 120.

Figure 5 illustrates an embodiment of a system 500 for assisting a driver of a vehicle 100in observing a relevant traffic related object 120 on, or in vicinity of a road 110. The system500 may perform at least some of the previously described steps 401 -405 according to themethod 400 described above and illustrated in Figure 4.

The system 500 may comprise a control unit 200 in the vehicle 100, configured for assist-ing a driver of a vehicle 100 in observing a relevant traffic related object 120 on, or in vicini-ty of a road 110 in a reduced visibility situation. The control unit 200 comprises a pro-cessing circuit 520 configured for detecting a traffic related object 120 ahead in the drivingdirection 105 of the vehicle 100, via a sensor 130. The processing circuit 520 is also con-figured for determining if the detected 402 traffic related object 120 is relevant. ln addition,the control unit 200 is further configured for generating control signals for directing at leasta segment of the vehicle headlights 140 towards the detected traffic related object 120when said object 120 is determined to be relevant. ln some embodiments, the processing circuit 520 may be configured to detect reducedvisibility situation by receiving signals from a light sensor 150 and activating the method400 only when reduced visibility is detected. ln addition, in some embodiments, the processing circuit 520 may be configured for gener-ating control signals for flashing with at least a segment of the vehicle headlights 140 di-rected 404 towards the detected 402 traffic related object 120.

Such processing circuit 520 may comprise one or more instances of a processing circuit,i.e. a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a processing unit, a processing circuit, a processor,an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a microprocessor, or other processinglogic that may interpret and execute instructions. The herein utilised expression “processor”may thus represent a processing circuitry comprising a plurality of processing circuits, suchas, e.g., any, some or all of the ones enumerated above.

The control unit 200 also comprises a receiving circuit 510 configured for receiving a signalfrom the sensor 130, indicating presence of the traffic related object 120 in the vicinity ofthe vehicle 100, detected by the sensor 130. The receiving circuit 510 may in some embod- 11 iments be configured for receiving signals from an optional light sensor 150 on the vehicle100.

Furthermore, the control unit 200 may comprise a memory 525 in some embodiments. Theoptional memory 525 may comprise a physical device utilised to store data or programs,i.e., sequences of instructions, on a temporary or permanent basis. According to some em-bodiments, the memory 525 may comprise integrated circuits comprising silicon-basedtransistors. The memory 525 may comprise e.g. a memory card, a flash memory, a USBmemory, a hard disc, or another similar volatile or non-volatile storage unit for storing datasuch as e.g. ROIVI (Read-Only Memory), PROIVI (Programmable Read-Only l\/lemory),EPROIVI (Erasable PROIVI), EEPROIVI (Electrically Erasable PROIVI), etc. in different em-bodiments.

Further, the control unit 200 may comprise a signal transmitter 530. The signal transmitter530 may be configured for transmitting a control signal to be received by one or severalmotors or similar directing devices for directing at least a segment of the headlights 140towards the detected traffic related object 120.

The system 500 additionally comprises a sensor 130, configured for detecting a traffic re-lated object 120 ahead in the driving direction 105 of the vehicle 100. Also, the system 500comprises vehicle headlights 140 configured for directing at least a segment of the vehicleheadlights 140 towards the traffic related object 120. The system 500 may in some embod-iments also comprise a light sensor 150.

However, in some alternative embodiments, the system 500 may comprise additional unitsfor performing the method 400 according to steps 401-405.

The above described steps 401-405 to be performed in the system 500 may be imple-mented through the one or more processing circuits 520 within the control unit 200, togeth-er with computer program product for performing at least some of the functions of the steps401-405. Thus a computer program product, comprising instructions for performing thesteps 401-405 in the control unit 200 may perform the method 400 comprising at leastsome of the steps 401-405 for assisting the driver of the vehicle 100 in observing a relevanttraffic related object 120 on, or in vicinity of a road 110. 12 Further, some embodiments may comprise a vehicle 100, comprising a system 500, con-figured for assisting the driver of the vehicle 100 in observing a relevant traffic related ob-ject 120 on, or in vicinity of a road 110, according to at least some of the steps 401-405.

The computer program product mentioned above may be provided for instance in the formof a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing at least some of the step401-405 according to some embodiments when being loaded into the one or more pro-cessing circuits 520 of the control unit 200. The data carrier may be, e.g., a hard disk, a CDROIVI disc, a memory stick, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device or anyother appropriate medium such as a disk or tape that may hold machine readable data in anon-transitory manner. The computer program product may furthermore be provided ascomputer program code on a server and downloaded to the control unit 200 remotely, e.g., over an Internet or an intranet connection.

The terminology used in the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the accompa-nying drawings is not intended to be limiting of the described method 400; the control unit200; the computer program; the system 500 and/ or the vehicle 100. Various changes,substitutions and/ or alterations may be made, without departing from invention embodi-ments as defined by the appended claims.

As used herein, the term "and/ or" comprises any and all combinations of one or more ofthe associated listed items. The term “or” as used herein, is to be interpreted as a mathe-matical OR, i.e., as an inclusive disjunction; not as a mathematical exclusive OR (XOR),unless expressly stated othen/vise. ln addition, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are tobe interpreted as “at least one", thus also possibly comprising a plurality of entities of thesame kind, unless expressly stated otherwise. lt will be further understood that the terms"includes", "comprises", "including" and/ or "comprising", specifies the presence of statedfeatures, actions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/ or components, but do notpreclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, actions, integers, steps,operations, elements, components, and/ or groups thereof. A single unit such as e.g. aprocessor may fulfil the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact thatcertain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that acombination of these measures cannot be used to advantage. A computer program may bestored/ distributed on a suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium supplied together with or as part of other hardware, but may also be distrib- uted in other forms such as via Internet or other Wired or wireless communication system.

Claims (9)

1. A method (400) for assisting a driver of a vehicle (100) in observing a relevant trafficrelated object (120)detecting (402) a traffic related object (120) comprisind a traffic sidn ahead in the5 driving direction (105) of the vehicle (100) ;determining (403) if the detected (402) traffic related object (120) is relevant;directing (404) at least a segment of the vehicle headlights (140) towards the de-tected (402) traffic related object (120) when said object (120) is determined (403) to berelevant, characterised in that the step of determining (403) if the detected (402) traffic re- on, or in vicinity of a road (110), wherein the method (400) comprises: 10 lated obiect (120) is relevant. comprises recodnisino the tvpe of the traffic sidn and deter-mining that said traffic sign is relevant when it either is identified as a particular tvpe of trafficsign, or when the traffic sign carrv information informinq about an upcoming traffic violation,when compared to obtained traffic related vehicle data. wherein the upcoming traffic violationcomprises over speedinq when the obtained velocitv of the vehicle exceeds a speed limit of 15 a detected (402) speed limit sign, road load class overload when the weight of the vehicle(100) exceeds a road load limit of a detected (402) road sidn, an oncomind viaduct beinOlower than the heidht of the vehicle (100). or similar and wherein the particular set of trafficsidns comprises prohibition sidns. crosswalk sidns. speed limit sidns. or wherein the Dartic-ular set of traffic sidns is confidurable.

2. The method (400) according to claim 1, further comprising: flashing (405) with at least a segment of the vehicle headlights (140) directed (404)towards the detected (402) traffic related object (120). ,and wherein ' ' 14 F» à(120) comprises a potential vehicle stop, such as a bus stop, loading dock, driveway, garage The method (400) according to any of claims 1-5 2, wherein the traffic related object entrance or similar.l. 4 The method (400) according to any of claims 1-6 5, further comprising: detecting (401) a reduced visibility situation by means of a light sensor (150) andactivating the method (400) only when reduced visibility is detected (401 ). 8. 5calated warnings when the driver of the vehicle (100) does not react on the redirection (404) The method (400) according to any of claims 1-1 4, further comprising adding es- of at least a segment of the vehicle headlights (140) towards the detected (402) traffic relatedobject (120) when said object (120) is determined to be relevant, by adding vibrations and/or acoustic signals for alerting the driver. 9. 5a relevant traffic related object (120) on, or in vicinity of a road (110), wherein the control unit A control unit (200), configured for assisting a driver of a vehicle (100) in observing (200) comprises: a processing circuit (520) configured for detecting a traffic related object (120) iprising a traffic sign ahead in the driving direction (105) of the vehicle (100), via a sensor(130); and for determining if the detected traffic related object (120) is relevant, which trafficrelated obiect is relevant when it either is identified as a particular type of traffic sign, or whenthe traffic sign carrv information informing about an upcoming traffic violation, when com-pared to obtained traffic related vehicle data; and in addition also configured for generatingcontrol signals for directing at least a segment of the vehicle headlights (140) towards thedetected traffic related object (120) when said object (120) is determined to be relevant. 40. Zcording to any of claims 1-8 5 when the computer program is executed in a processing circuit(520) of the control unit (200), according to claim 9 5. A computer program comprising program code for performing a method (400) ac- 4-1. 5related object (120) on, or in vicinity of a road (110), according to the method (400) of claims A system (500) for assisting a driver of a vehicle (100) in observing a relevant traffic 140 5, wherein the system (500) comprises: a sensor (130), configured for detecting a traffic related object (120) ahead in thedriving direction (105) of the vehicle (100);a control unit (200) according to claim 9 Q; anda vehicle headlights (140) configured for directing at least a segment of the vehicle5 headlights (140) towards the traffic related object (120). 4-2. g A vehicle (100) comprising a system (500) according to claim 4-1 §.