I am a big fan of the iPhone 'I'm Driving' feature, which helps to push the distractions from my phone away. But, this recent study shows drivers are becoming increasingly distracted by the infotainment technology built into their vehicles.
In our always on world, with increasing volumes of tech in vehicles and an increasing desire to engage with the world around us, I feel we will see a push to increasing levels of autonomy; let the car do the driving, while you do the social and engaging stuff.
I wonder how long before driving as a skill starts to become more specialist. This debate still has a long way to run and only time will tell how the future of mobility develops over the next 5-10 years.
The study released Thursday is the latest by University of Utah professor David Strayer, who has been examining the impact of infotainment systems on safety for AAA’s Foundation for Traffic Safety since 2013. Past studies also identified problems, but Strayer said the “explosion of technology” has made things worse.
Automakers now include more infotainment options to allow drivers to use social media, email and text. The technology is also becoming more complicated to use. Cars used to have a few buttons and knobs. Some vehicles now have as many as 50 buttons on the steering wheel and dashboard that are multi-functional. There are touch screens, voice commands, writing pads, heads-up displays on windshields and mirrors and 3-D computer-generated images.
/Passle/59133a70b00e8008f022358f/MediaLibrary/Images/60390569e5416a0d24f03744/2023-03-22-10-58-59-921-641adf73f636ea168476a77d.jpg)
/Passle/59133a70b00e8008f022358f/MediaLibrary/Images/60390569e5416a0d24f03744/2023-03-24-09-46-18-256-641d716af636eb19d8207740.png)
/Passle/59133a70b00e8008f022358f/MediaLibrary/Images/60390569e5416a0d24f03744/2023-03-14-15-45-27-327-64109697f636ea1f04b7cf96.jpg)
/Passle/59133a70b00e8008f022358f/SearchServiceImages/2023-02-15-08-23-06-916-63ec966af636ea126cc69196.jpg)