A new report released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety suggests popular features in new vehicles may cause driver distraction.
Rose White, Public Affairs Director for AAA Nebraska, says today’s voice-based and entertainment technologies in cars may cause mental or cognitive distraction in drivers.
White says the general idea behind hands-free technology is that it’s easy to use but she says the problem is many of these systems are actually quite complicated.
"And we are finding out too that many of them have errors which means it takes more time to issue those commands. So we are asking the manufacturers to carefully research the systems they are putting into the vehicles and do what they can to make them safer. And to limit the interaction with the driver to those commands that are necessary to be a safe driver.”
White says AAA is also asking drivers to limit their use of these technologies to tasks specifically related to driving such as navigation and temperature control.