16% of Car Accident Fatalities Due To Driver Distractions
According to statistics by the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and the National Automotive Sampling, 20% of total car accidents in the US is down to driver distractions. In reality, the figure is likely to be much higher since this 20% number as this only will only include cases in which either the driver or passenger admitted to driver distraction or there was some other corroborating evidence. The number of fatalities due to driver distraction is a staggering 16%.
Yet modern cars are loading up on technology to make our time in a vehicle more enjoyable and fun when this is clearly counter-intuitive to safe driving.
While yet more regulation may not be the answer, technology is sufficiently advanced for car makers to use it within vehicles to introduce features that for example limit the use of certain functionality whilst the vehicle is in motion. Vehicle manufacturers can then set the standard of safety for the use of modern technology in cars and in doing so reduce the number of road traffic accidents and fatalities that occur every year.
Amplify’d from www.freep.com
High-tech features in vehicles can tempt drivers to take eyes off road
Part 1: Distracted driving is a growing safety concern
In a 2011-model car during a recent Tigers game, the display screen gave a number and encouraged drivers to "Text the Ticket" to join in a chat about the game.
Few rules limit the types of technology that automakers and their partners can bring into a vehicle, how they work and what's off-limits.
Though 34 states ban texting while driving and 10 states and the District of Columbia ban using handheld cell phones, there are no regulations limiting smartphone apps inside a car or factory-installed technologies that automakers or parts makers can make available to drivers.
For now, automakers are the judge and jury on what should be allowed.
"We do have moments when we receive applications that would work on MyFord Touch or Sync, but we don't deem as appropriate when driving," said Joe Beiser, manager of Ford Connected Services.
All this might be changing soon. In September, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will issue guidelines to ensure that technology built into new vehicles can be used safely.
"Teens' use of mobile devices is the lifeblood of that generation's entire social experience," NHTSA administrator David Strickland said in May. "Rather than react to every technology as it pops up, NHTSA needs a framework that clearly defines the danger zone for the driver, allowing us to keep pace with the industry rather than playing catch-up."
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