The next time I am out driving at 75mph in my beat-up Toyota minivan, I'm going to crack open the book I've been trying to finish for a couple of days now. As far as I can tell, there are no laws against reading while driving. If I can prop the book up on my dashboard, it will even be considered "hands-free," so I know it won't violate any kind of safety rules.
As long as something is hands-free, it is considered safe. At least that is what car manufacturers want you to think. According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, the following capabilities will soon be available in automobiles:
Ford: Stream Internet music, access news and podcasts, send a Tweet
Toyota: Buy movie tickets, book a table, check stocks, search on Bing
General Motors: Play videos and slide shows, access songs via voice command
Tesla Motors: Wireless Internet with 17-inch-screen, USB plugs
Mercedes-Benz: Check Facebook, read Twitter posts, use Google Local Search and Yelp
These are the same car makers that advertise the safety features of their automobiles every single day. I guess antilock brakes and airbags do come in handy if you are involved in a collision because you were updating your Facebook status while driving.
Hands-free does not qualify as "safe." If you take your eyes off the road, you are distracted. Distraction is what causes accidents.
Here is some data cited by the WSJ that supports both sides of the distracted-driving argument:
Auto makers point to studies, including one by researchers at Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, which show that talking on a cellphone increases the risk of a crash or near-crash by 1.3 times over regular driving, while physically dialing a number increased the risk 2.8 times. A person is more than 20 times more likely to be in a crash or near crash while sending text messages.
Such data, which was gathered by monitoring hundreds of hours of drivers with cameras in day-to-day driving, has guided auto makers and the administration to the conclusion that "hands-free" activities are safe. Other studies, including one by University of Utah researcher Michael Strayer, show that talking on the phone, hands free or not, is equally dangerous. Most of newer car-electronics systems permit access to controls through a touch screen.
Carmakers insist they are just giving people what they want by piling electronics entertainment features in their cars. Being connected is a No. 1 priority. I get that. But there's a difference between being connected and being entertained. Is it really urgent that you get Facebook updates or tweets while you are driving? If something were that important, wouldn't your acquaintances call?
The fact is, even if my hands are still on the steering wheel, most of these functions are distracting. I would have to take my eyes off the road for a few seconds for most of them. But how many times have your voice-activated systems misinterpreted what you were saying? Or a search engine turns up the wrong search? Or asks you "Did you mean X?" Have you ever gotten a tweet that is upsetting?
Then there is the issue of the technology. Voice activation has gotten better. Touchscreen technology and smart features (e.g. your device anticipating what you are about to ask for) have not. I touch the wrong thing all the time on touchscreens, and my typing isn't much better. I cancel; I delete. I start again. Sometimes I still grope for the right knob or dial in my rapidly-aging minivan.
Does a touchscreen know you meant to turn on the radio and not the wipers? I haven't met one that does. For an industry that spends decades developing and testing safety technology for vehicles, the standard for consumer electronics is surprisingly lax. The interfaces are still spotty and require a lot more attention than I can spare when I am on a highway. And the time I most need directions or to get updated on news and traffic is when I am driving full speed ahead and already stressed. In other words, distracted.
I understand people spend hours sitting in traffic, and that's when most of these functions are the most useful. If there was a way to limit these functions to speeds of 20mph or less, I might feel a bit safer. In fact, I know that technology exists. In the meantime, I'll tweet you about what route I am taking to my next appointment and you can find an alternative. I've got some reading to catch up on.
Absolutely right - when the cars can self-navigate, the other bells and whistles won't be issues anymore. Not sure I want to be on the read the first time the navigation sysrtem goes haywire though.
@Kevin: I have snuck a glance at a book at red lights (the one that was in front of my now-extinct local Boarders) but quickly gave up after missing the light turning green. (In the Boston area, people either lay on the horn or drive right over you.) That's another pet peeve I have--people on the cell not watching the stop lights. And I agree on the highway cell user--they either slow down or begin to swerve. I have personally found it impossible not to reach for my cell phone when it rings or indicates I have a text message, which is why, unless I am going to be in the car for an extended period of time, I set it on vibrate. So far, I have had no situation that couldn't wait a half hour, or until I pull over, to be resolved (thank goodness.)
I am all for the sophistication in the cars and Electronics is playing a very important role to enrich the driving comfort, security and protection against accidents.
But when it comes to the features which compromise the safety in terms of diverting the attention of the driver I think we nned to think twice.
You cannot put such features in the hands of the driver and then caution him not to use them while driving. So it is better not to have such features ( texting, hands free talking on mobiles etc) built into the cars. To use such features the driver should be forced to take his car off the road , stop the engine and the do whatever he wants.
Barbra, I assume you were kidding about reading a book on the steering wheel but, I've seen that many time on my hour long drive to work every day.
The thing that irritates me most is the thing that I believe happens most often. Traffic is heavy but cruising smoothly at speed, then the guy's cell phone in the car in front of me rings, he immediately knocks five MPH off his speed. When he eventually hangs up he speeds back up. And, most annoyingly, when you go around him while he is talking, he gets mad once he hangs up because now I'm "in his way".
Barbara, we all know TMI is "too much information" so I suggest a new acronym, TMT, Too much Tech. I think the Tesla also has side view, rear facing cameras that replace the low tech mirrors. Aside from the 17" monitor with Internet, now every time a Tesla driver changes lanes, if he/she does not also continue the good practice of glancing over the shoulder prior to changing lanes, the tendency will be to depend on the monitor and if the Tesla driver is using a non Tesla vehicle, the retrained brain may neglect to make that extra glance for safety and potentially cause an accident. We talk about programming tech equipment, but in reality, the tetchy stuff is programming us. I have been programmed to use my iPad for mobile email, my smartphone for stock updates, and I don't leave home without my iPad, smartphone, and car keys because all my friends and professional contacts know they can now reach me wherever and whenever. This is a whole other subject in itself.
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Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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