With infotainment systems in vehicle expected to increase by five fold in the next few years, AAA is asking for tougher laws and action to prevent cases of distracted driving.
A new study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that drivers who use hands-free technology such as phones, Facebook or voice texting are still a danger on the road. That is because of mental distractions.
The distracted driving research found that as mental workload and distractions increase, reaction time slows, brain function is compromised, drivers scan the road less and miss visual cues, potentially resulting in drivers not seeing items right in front of them including stop signs and pedestrians.
"There is a looming public safety crisis ahead with the future proliferation of these in-vehicle technologies," said AAA President and CEO Robert L. Darbelnet.
"It's time to consider limiting new and potentially dangerous mental distractions built into cars, particularly with the common public misperception that hands-free means risk-free," he said.
Here is a summary of the research and what AAA is calling for:
Cognitive distraction expert Dr. David Strayer and his research team at the University of Utah measured brainwaves, eye movement and other metrics to assess what happens to drivers' mental workload when they attempt to do multiple things at once, building upon decades of research in the aerospace and automotive industries. The research included:
- Cameras mounted inside an instrumented car to track eye and head movement of drivers.
- A Detection-Response-Task device known as the "DRT" was used to record driver reaction time in response to triggers of red and green lights added to their field of vision.
- A special electroencephalographic (EEG)-configured skull cap was used to chart participants' brain activity so that researchers could determine mental workload.
Using established research protocols borrowed from aviation psychology and a variety of performance metrics, drivers engaged in common tasks, from listening to an audio book or talking on the phone to listening and responding to voice-activated emails while behind the wheel.
