Good news for motorists who find that talking to and texting friends from their mobile phone while negotiating the roads is not a sufficient driving challenge. Car manufacturers such as Ford and Audi are now touting internet-connected computers for car dashboards that will allow drivers to search for information on nearby attractions, check the weather and view photos from the comfort of the drivers seat.
It sounds like a dream technology for the times, but, obviously, it flies in the face of recent research. The trouble is that this technology only adds to the list of distractions for drivers just as evidence mounts that activities such as talking on a mobile phone while driving is contributing to crashes. A University of Utah study published in December found that activities "such as text messaging that require task switching and are often performed for extended periods severely impair driving performance."
In 2003, researchers at Harvard University in Massachusetts estimated that motorists talking on phones caused 2,600 fatal accidents and 570,000 accidents involving injuries a year in the US, according to The New York Times. The evidence has prompted many cities and states to ban the use of a handheld mobile phone for calling, texting or accessing the internet. I was in Canada a couple of weeks ago and, before I got behind the wheel, my parents and friends were reminding me of the new law in the province of Ontario, which prohibits the use of mobile phones in a car and carries fines of up to $500 Canadian dollars (Dh1,777). But I wondered how enforceable such a law is here, where it is difficult to see inside a car.
The vast majority of people in North America would not dare drink and drive, not just out of fear of the penalties but because drinking has been made, through years of campaigns, socially unacceptable. The same thing needs to happen with distracted driving, which also clearly impairs drivers. It would seem that new dashboard computers, such as the Multi Media Interface (MMI) that will be available in the new Audi A8 this autumn, at the least, provide another temptation for motorists to take their eyes off of the road.
In its plus version, an eight-inch monitor and a touchpad lets a driver call up information as they drive. The company claims that the ability to scribble with your finger on the pad allows for "intuitive, virtually distraction-free operation of the MMI navigation plus system" according to Peter Steiner, head of infotainment development with Audi. We'll be able to truly find out how distracting this technology really is when The National tests the A8 in Spain next month.
Other technologies being introduced will help improve the safety of drivers, such as a navigation system that identifies curves in a selected routes and ensures the car does not accelerate toward them if its in cruise control mode. Meanwhile, Ford's MyFord system puts an emphasis on voice- activated devices, which, while still a distraction, is better than a motorist cradling a phone to their ear or manually scrolling for track listings
It is perhaps inevitable that our cars will soon become rolling computers, but manufacturers and legislators will need to make sure they do not endanger drivers in their efforts to entertain them. mchung@thenational.ae
