KILLER TECH

Study shows new vehicle electronics increase distractions

New vehicle electronic systems distract drivers and significantly increase the risk for a crash, according to a study AAA released Thursday.

The study paid for by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and conducted by researchers at the University of Utah found that drivers using in-vehicle technologies including voice-based and touch screen features were visually and mentally distracted for up to 40 seconds when completing tasks such as programming navigation or sending text messages.

Removing eyes from the road for just two seconds doubles the risk for a crash, AAA said.

“Cool is not better. Techier is not better,” AAA Oklahoma spokesman Mark Madeja said. “If you’re sitting in your living room or at your computer at home, it’s great, but to have the ability to surf the web and check out your friends on Facebook is not meant to be mixed with driving a car under any circumstances. But it’s available in many vehicles.”

The research focused on new vehicles that include infotainment systems including touchscreen consoles and up to 17 buttons on the steering wheel.

Of the 30 vehicles tested, none were found to require low attention demand, and 23 systems generated high or very high levels of demand on drivers.

Study participants were required to use voice command, touch screen and other interactive technologies to make a call, send a text message, tune the radio or program navigation while driving.

The test showed programming navigation to be the most distracting task, taking an average of 40 seconds for drivers to complete. That’s enough time to travel the length of four football fields at 25 miles an hour.

“Some in-vehicle technology can create unsafe situations for drivers on the road by increasing the time they spend with their eyes and attention off the road and hands off the wheel,” David Yang, executive director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, said in a statement.

“When an in-vehicle technology is not properly designed, simple tasks for drivers can become complicated and require more effort from drivers to complete.”

Focus on driving

The systems can safely be operated by a passenger or by a parked driver before operating the vehicle, Madeja said.

“Before you put the vehicle in gear, do everything you’re going to do,” he said. “Load the destination into the GPS. Get Pandora loaded up. Get your texts and emails out of the way. But once you get your car in gear, focus only on driving.”

It’s good advice, but changing human nature is difficult.

“It’s almost like we’ve gone back to the oldest story in the bible of the Garden of Eden,” Madeja said. “Things haven’t changed much. This is still about resisting temptation. Just because it’s available doesn’t mean they should be used all the time.”

Another common human frailty is hypocrisy.

“It seems to be that while people are against texting and driving in general, they think, ‘You’re a knucklehead, but I can do it better than you can,’” Madeja said. “We all need to take personal responsibility and resist the urge.”

While the study is a warning to drivers, it also is designed to send a message to carmakers, Madeja said.

“What we want is for the manufactures and automakers to look at this information and see how they can make it better, how they can make it simpler to be more aligned with the safety of the occupants they’re trying to sell to,” he said.

Some cellphones have the option to turn off some features while driving a car. And while some in-vehicle devices require hands and eyes, others respond to voice.

“People still have to realize when you’re using voice activation, your focus and concentration still is away to a degree,” Madeja said. “But that’s a step in the right direction. If you’re in heavy driving, you shouldn’t be doing anything else.

“But absolutely a voice command does not take hands or eyes away from where they should be. That’s a lot better than having to get down and look at a piece of equipment, figure it out and start pressing buttons.”