Distracted Driving Dangers Mount As Cars Become An “iPhone On Wheels”

I’ve written several times on the dangers of distracted driving. I’d like to say I’ve seen it all, but I’m sure I haven’t. Some of what I have seen:

• Bus Driver Reading While Driving Passengers [Sept. 22, 2010]
• Semi Truck Driver Watching Porn At Time Of Fatal Crash [Jan. 28, 2010]
• Celebrity Plastic Surgeon Killed Texting While Driving [Aug. 18, 2010]

Distracted driving crashes will only increase as cockpit technology and “infotainment” become more prominent. According to a CNN report, young shoppers want an “iPhone on wheels.”

For car shoppers under the age of 31, the biggest factor in deciding what to buy isn’t performance, fuel economy or comfort, it’s the shopping experience and “cockpit technology,” according to a recent study.

Cockpit technology can include:

• Bluetooth cell phone interfaces
• iPod / MP3 attachments
• On board video and movie displays
• Satellite or HD Radio
• GPS devices
• Interactive traffic and weather updates
• Voice-to-text technology
• Mobile WiFi hot spots

CNN’s report found that nearly 5,500 people were killed and more than 500,000 people were injured in distracted driving crashes in 2009. Much of the focus has been on texting while driving. However, any multi-tasking while driving is dangerous.

Despite the dangers, car makers are continuing to battle each other to come up with new systems that allow drivers to multi-task behind the wheel. Current or planned “infotainment” features in new cars include:

• Ford’s Sync system (which Consumer Reports found confusing)
• GM’s iPhone application to permit drivers to update their Facebook status by voice
• Voice-to-text applications that permit drivers to email or text while driving

In a separate report by CNBC, a Deloitte study found: “Regulation keeps trying to say texting is distracting to driving, but for the consumer it is really the driving that is distracting to texting.”

While car makers keep giving drivers more to do while behind the wheel, AT&T recently posted a PSA advising its users to not text while driving.

[View AT&T’s Texting While Driving Documentary Here]

Last year the Huffington Post compared the dangers of texting while driving with driving under the influence with some surprising results — the study showed that texting while driving was much more dangerous than drinking and driving. According to that same investigative project:

• Drivers are twice as likely to cause a crash if texting than if drinking — Drunk driving increases the likelihood of causing a car crash by 4 times while texting and driving increases the risk by 8 times.
• Texting drivers need 6 times as much distance to stop than a dunk driver — drunk drivers travel 4 additional feet before stopping while a texting driver travels 25 more feet before stopping
• Texting drivers typically gaze at their mobile device for 5 seconds — enough time to travel 29 car lengths at interstate speeds.

Do we really want young drivers — or any drivers for that matter — checking email, updating Facebook, texting or doing some other multi-tasking while driving?

More on technology and increasing distractions in cars:

• Young car shoppers want an iPhone on wheels [Peter Valdes-Dapena at CNNMoney]
• What Gen Y Drivers Really Want From Their Cars: New Survey [Phil LeBeau at CNBC]
• GM’s OnStar: There’s an app or that [Peter Valdes-Dapena at CNNMoney]

(c) Copyright 2011 Brett A. Emison