Growth in information and communication technologies has led to an information overload which significantly increases driver distraction. Carmakers are under pressure to implement the latest technologies to maintain their brand value; however, they also have to keep the process of human interaction with the car simple, to reduce driver distraction.
Research by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has shown that 17%, an estimated 899,000, of all police-reported accidents in 2010 reportedly involved some type of driver distraction.
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Of those 899,000 crashes, distraction by a device/control integral in the vehicle was reported in 26,000 cases. Based on these results, the NHTSA has formulated voluntary guidelines for driver distraction, which will be rolled out in three phases based on device origin and interaction type.
NHTSA plans to implement feedback from the motorists and hold public hearings before finalising the first phase of recommendations. This help set guidelines that will benefit car manufacturers as well as consumers.
Smartphones are one of the major sources of driver distraction, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in December 2011 as it proposed a nationwide ban on the use of personal electronics devices while driving. It said the risk of an accident was four times higher when using a phone while driving a car.
However, Krishna Jayaraman, research analyst at Frost & Sullivan, believes the regulation, applicable in 50 states, and banning the use of hands-free systems, including wireless headsets, could act against those OEMs offering phone integration as part of their product portfolio.
“With pressure from the automotive and the smartphone industries, it is left to be seen how this regulation will be implemented. This will be a testing phase, though, for all smartphone-interfacing solutions available in the market where judgment will be made on how intelligently a phone is handled within the vehicle.”
All advances to reduce driver distraction point toward the development of voice control. A number of demands have still to be met, particularly regarding the migration from command-based to natural speech systems.
For systems such as Ford Sync, Kia UVO, and Toyota Entune, this becomes a win-win situation as they are already offering voice environments in their cars. On the other hand, this might be a potential threat to touch screen systems, wherein user attention is required for a longer time.
Jayaraman said: “The categorisation of driving-related critical and non-critical functions will be pivotal when designing a safe and simple solution – the key focus will be to achieve a proper balance when splitting critical functions among the different interfaces available. A major part of this process will be based on the guidelines for reducing driver distraction and keeping in mind consumer preference for different controls.”
