Interesting article... the mainstream media seems to be going against MFT on safety grounds, yet they do not have much objective data. Ford says they have data to say it is safer than other cars.
Thoughts?
In-Car Technologies Not Safe for Drivers, Experts Say
LiveScience.com - Wed Nov 24th, 2010 12:25 PM EST
Technology is everywhere these days, and cars are no exception. From
built-in Internet hot spots and iPad docks attached to seat headrests to
state-of-the-art TVs, many drivers are cruising around with the latest
high-tech frills and accessories in their ride.
But even when it is designed to help drivers keep both hands on the
wheel, such technology can cause "cognitive distractions" and are
ultimately dangerous, experts say.
Among the most controversial is Ford's latest enhancement of its popular voice-activated SYNC
in-car communications system. The driver interface called MyFord Touch
is entirely voice-controlled, including entertainment - AM/FM and
satellite radio, HD, CD, MP3 - as well as climate control, phone and
navigation.
MyFord Touch also uses the power of a smartphone to access and
control other applications. Users have the ability to listen to
streaming music from online music services, stay in touch with the news
and check out the latest Twitter messages - all without taking their
hands off the wheel.
Since SYNC technology does away with fumbling for the phone, allowing
drivers to keep their eyes on the road, Ford says it can help make
highways safer.
"Ford is committed to addressing driver distraction in empirical,
research-driven ways and implementing our findings in active safety
systems and advanced infotainment systems throughout our vehicle lines,"
Louis Tijerina, Ford senior technical specialist, said in a recent
statement.
Distraction prevention
According to a recent study conducted by the Ford Motor Co. in 2009,
the SYNC hands-free system significantly reduced the level of
distraction for drivers who used it - from dialing a number to choosing a
song - instead of hand-held devices.
Ford researchers measured total eyes-off-the-road time, deviation of
lane position, speed variability and object detection response time to
identify differences in attentiveness and driving performance while
using the Ford SYNC technology. Ford found that drivers meandered over
lane lines in more than 30 percent of trials using hand-held phones and
music players, as compared to 0 percent when performing those same tasks
with SYNC.
On its website, Ford also refers to a study from Virginia Tech that
followed 109 drivers for one year, entailing 43,000 hours and over 2
million miles of driving. The report showed that manually dialing a
hand-held device while driving (a task that requires looks away from the
road) was almost 2.8 times riskier than just driving. Virginia Tech
also reported that almost 80 percent of all crashes and 65 percent of
all near-misses occurred just after a glance away from the road.
"These results strongly suggest that SYNC's voice-interface offers
substantial advantages compared to manipulating a carried-in device to
do the same task," Tijerina said.
The controversy
However, not everyone agrees that Ford's in-car technology is beneficial to drivers.
"Ford may say it's hands-free, but it's certainly not risk-free,"
said Robert Sinclair Jr., manager of media relations for the auto club
AAA New York. "The distractions that do exist are very mentally
distracting, especially when it comes to checking social networking
sites. We find all of this very disturbing."
Sinclair said he believes engaging in social media sites while on the road demands significantly more concentration than a phone call.
"Going on Facebook or sending a Tweet is engaging in a complex
conversation that should absolutely not be done while driving," he said.
"Drivers are already controlling a heavy object, watching out for
lights, signs and, of course, other vehicles. Just a two-second
distraction is enough time for someone to be involved in a crash."
"Car manufacturers think they are doing the right thing and that they
are on God's side by preventing someone from using a hand-held device,
but it's just more harm than good," Sinclair added.
David Strayer, a cognitive scientist at the University of Utah who studies distracted driving , agrees that this type of technology in cars is unsafe.
"Some activities such as listening to the radio are passive, but
others such as texting and checking Facebook are not," Strayer told
TechNewsDaily. "The mind can only do one thing at once when driving - it's been long published in scientific journals. People who say that
in-car technology is not distracting to drivers just don't know the
science of the brain."
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is fighting to disable the
use of certain technologies in cars. LaHood recently launched a "Faces
of Distracted Driving" campaign, an online video series exploring the
tragic consequences of texting and using a cell phone while driving.
The series features people from across the country that have been
injured or lost loved ones in distracted driving crashes. In 2009,
nearly 5,500 people died and half a million were injured in accidents
involving a distracted driver.
"If there was a drug on the market that killed that many people each year, it would be immediately removed," Strayer said.
Strayer noted there is a huge social-political struggle on the table since tens of billions of dollars are at stake.
"There's a lot of money to be had for consumer electronic companies,
automakers and others, but it also has a huge impact on insurance
companies," Strayer said. "They are very alarmed and concerned about the
trend and also don't want customers using any technology while
driving."
More technology
Of particular concern for car safety experts is the installation of TVs inside vehicles - sometimes even in the front seats.
"Installing a TV anywhere in the front seat of a car is illegal in
some states, including New York," Sinclair said. "Only navigation
screens are allowed up front, and even those can be distracting."
In many cases, people with TVs in the front seats get busted. A
driver in New York state was recently pulled over after he was spotted
watching pornography from a front-seat TV while he was stopped at a
light. (He didn't realize a police station was right across the street.)
Another man had installed 15 monitors
in his vehicle - including one on the inside of the flap covering the
gas tank, so he could watch TV as he refilled his car. He was also
caught.
"This just goes to show the lack of seriousness and the attitude of
those operating vehicles," Sinclair said. "Driving is not downtime to
engage in other activities."
The distractions can be lethal. A truck driver who was watching a
movie accidentally hit and killed a woman who was parked on the side of a
highway.
"People know deep down they shouldn't be participating in these types
of distractions while driving, but if they try it a few times because
they are bored and don't crash, they think they are safe," Strayer said.
"However, it's critical that people only focus on driving while
driving. It's not the right time to be entertained."
Reach TechNewsDaily senior writer Samantha Murphy at
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Original Story: In-Car Technologies Not Safe for Drivers, Experts Say
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