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Automotive Industry

Death By Distraction - Statistical Data Included

Automotive Industries, May, 2000 by Gerry Kobe

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"Even this concerns us says Paul Green, senior research scientist at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). `We are working with automakers to find the best solution, but we are not there yet. People will argue that if they can talk to someone in a car, then they can listen to e-mail. But there is something more challenging about it. When someone is next to you, they stop talking if a car pubs out in front of you And they are even a second set of eyes and yell `watch out,' if they see something that you don't. An e-mail message will just keep going and not ebb and flow depending on what goes on around you."

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Green adds that hands-free operation of such a device is probably better than hands-on, but says e-mail is written to be read and not heard. He points out that written messages usually contain a lot more detail than a spoken conversation, and while the hands-free interface makes getting the message easy, the content may be too difficult to comprehend.

"The hands-free aspect is not the issuer Green says. Hands-free phones didn't make a lot of difference from a safety standpoint, because the dialing episode lasts only a few seconds. Less than one-fourth of cell phone related accidents occur when dialing. Almost half come from receiving calls that force a person to take their mind off the road unexpectedly. A long, complex e-mail message can put a driver's mind other than where it needs to be."

NHTSA's Goodman also has reservations about introducing the new systems, especially since there is no information available from which to make an informed decision. He says the data simply doesn't exist that confirms the new technologies are safe or not safe. And their complexity makes them a concern that needs to be studied more.

"Understand that there are four categories of distraction," Goodman says. "There is visual, auditory, biomechanical and then the most elusive, which is cognitive distraction. The last one is of great interest to us because it gets to the root of the cell phone controversy and, I suppose, also to these more complex systems that are coming. It addresses the reason behind crashes where the driver is absorbed in a conversation, is looking ahead, but then still has a rear-end collision. We call it `look but did not see.' That's cognitive distraction. Can we expect the same thing from having your email read to you? We don't know yet."

Cadillac doesn't dispute critics who say there is no hard data on its upcoming systems. However, the decision to pioneer the technology was partially based on the belief that designing a cell phone, e-mail, Internet and navigation system that is optimized for safety is actually safer than what is currently being done on the highway. Advocates point out that motorists don't hesitate to multitask now, including using hand-held cell phones, laptops, beepers and portable GPS systems in their vehicles. In fact, 50% to 70% of cellular minutes are consumed in automobiles

"Is it safe?" asks Karenann Terrell, director of E-vehicles at E-GM. "No it's not. But we know customers do it anyway. So are we better off to ignore what we know is really happening and let drivers continue to drive with their knees and look at laptop screens sitting on the seat next to them? We think it's better to give them an overall system that is less demanding, with built-in safeguards that interact with the car."

Automotive Industry

Death By Distraction - Statistical Data Included

Automotive Industries, May, 2000 by Gerry Kobe

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