Dashboard interactive systems should only be used while vehicles are stationary, the UK’s Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) said. It wants more scrutiny of devices with features such as three-dimensional maps, web pages and social media.
Many such ‘infotainment’ systems were shown at the consumer electronics show in Las Vegas last week, with Ford in talks with Google to offer systems compatible with the automaker’s Sync on-board entertainment and communications platform.
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Ford has links with Mapquest, internet radio provider Pandora, Twitter and audio news service Stitcher.
But the IAM said such systems could prove a major distraction to drivers.
“If drivers were tempted to use the internet or watch videos on the move, the results could be deadly,” said IAM chief examiner Peter Rodger.
“If it’s not acceptable to read a novel while driving, how can it be acceptable to read a multimedia display? Just how much information can a car driver absorb and still drive responsibly? There is a fine line between providing useful extra information and causing a dangerous distraction.”
Rodger is calling for access to online information while driving to be made illegal and further argued that it should be an offence to buy, sell, fit and transmit such information for use on the move.
However, Rodger said some some systems could be used when vehicles are parked.
Carmakers see lucrative potential in onboard systems that could let them draw additional revenue from services like text messaging, video, phone calls and internet and email access.
Third parties could use the so-called ‘open technology’ to develop applications, much as Apple does for its iPhone, with car manufacturers taking a cut.
