Opinion: More driver distractions ahead

The federal effort to ban texting/e-mailing and driving is common sense. It’s not wise to read or write while driving a car. But it seems a little short-sighted to declare which applications are dangerous and which aren’t. As vehicles and devices get smarter, the lines begin to blur on what is a good idea and what should be criminal.
Americans seem to take the driving-and-dialing controversy with a bit of a wink-wink attitude. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski injected a little driving-and-using-the-cellphone humor into a speech delivered earlier this month at the fall CTIA show. CTIA, for its part, is neutral on driving-and-dialing legislation. Earlier this week, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s wife, Maria Shriver, was photographed talking on her cellphone while driving – a law her husband enacted. Comedian Jon Stewart has perhaps the best take on the mixed message in his report on CNN’s new iPhone app and the company’s coverage of the distracted-driving issue.
Consider in-car navigation devices. These navigation systems are included in some vehicles as standard factory equipment. They’re legal, even though they have large screens and offer visual driving maps and even some use text to give driving directions. (In-car entertainment systems are only allowed in the back seat, which seems to make sense.)
Ford Motor Co. is on the record as supporting a federal ban on texting while driving. I interviewed Louis Tijerina, a senior technical specialist at Ford . Using Ford’s internal research, as well as research from the Virgnia Tech Transportation Institute, Tijerina said they key to safe driving is (not surprisingly) keeping one’s eyes on the road. The VTTI study found that a driver’s risk to get in an accident increases 23-fold when texting and driving. That’s significant and a good enough reason for a nationwide ban on texting and driving, especially when you think about how much teens text and how they are — by default — inexperienced drivers.
Ford, which offers a lot of in-car entertainment, uses voice-activation methods in its Sync product, including an app to read one’s text messages and e-mail. Manual cellphone tasks on the Sync system that can’t be completed with two button clicks or within a few quick glances are locked out when the vehicle is moving.
Drivers are not giving up their cellphones so anything that can be done to make using them safer while in a moving vehicle is an improvement, but I can’t help but wonder what the real solution is going forward – especially when my daughter reminds me she’ll have her driver’s license in three short years.
The threat of a ticket carries some weight, and telematics advancements help, but at what point does the driver suffer from information overload?