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Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: The Hills of North Georgia,USA
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Distracted drivers fuel debate on auto safety
Sunday, June 8, 2003
Stakes high for car industry if phones, gadgets restricted
By Detroit News Washington Bureau/David Coates The Detroit News
WASHINGTON -- Inattentive drivers have become a major highway safety concern with an increasing number of potentially distracting high-tech gadgets on vehicle dashboards and more drivers using cell phones, safety officials say.
Following a 15-month investigation into a cell-phone related crash outside Washington, D.C., the National Transportation Safety Board recommended last week that all states prohibit novice drivers from using cell phones.
The stakes are huge for the auto industry if these and other similar restrictions being considered are adopted.
The industry has been embracing built-in electronic devices as never before. The telematics industry, which makes such gadgets, is expected to grow to $20 billion a year by 2010, according to market research firms.
But also growing is the concern over how cell phones, pagers, personal digital assistants and navigational systems might affect safety.
Auto companies and suppliers are racing to come up with their own solutions before the federal government imposes regulations or more state governments put restrictions on a lucrative business.
The notion of putting limits on cell phones is becoming popular with drivers frustrated by other motorists.
Bill Miller, 70, of Grosse Pointe Woods says he sees people weaving back and forth on highways almost daily on Interstates 696 and 75 as he drives to a part-time job near Pontiac. Others, he adds, don't notice when traffic lights turn green.
"I look over and see them talking on their cell phones," Miller said. "I see it just about every day. They should be outlawed while driving."
If state lawmakers listen to voters like Miller, Michigan could join a growing number of states where legislators have decided that they've seen enough to act.
New York became the first state to forbid hand-held cell phones in cars in 2001, and New Jersey and California could follow suit this year. New Hampshire has outlawed activities ranging from eating to personal grooming by drivers.
"A lot of it is culture. We're annoyed by cell phones in movie theaters and restaurants. We don't like to see other people driving with them," said Jonathan Adkins, spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association.
Looking for answers
The NTSB investigated the Washington, D.C., crash specifically looking for answers to the cell-phone safety question.
The board said there was not yet enough data to justify a broad cell-phone ban, but there was enough evidence that cell phones could be a problem for novice drivers.
Researchers have zeroed in on a few of the biggest safety questions in the last few years. Some recent conclusions:
* The Harvard Center for Risk Analysis said in December 2002 that about 2,600 traffic fatalities a year can be tied to cell-phone use.
But the center said any complete ban on cell phones would negate the economic benefits that millions of motorists derive from making calls on the road. The economic benefits of using cell phones in cars is about equal to the value of the lost lives, according to the center's calculations.
* A University of Utah study in February suggested drivers suffer "attention blindness" when engaging in cell-phone conversations.
Motorists on a 40-mile course in a driving simulator reacted sluggishly when speaking on a cell phone, taking longer to brake and longer to accelerate from a stop. They missed traffic signals more often than drivers who were listening to the radio or listening to a book on tape. There was no measurable difference between drivers using hands-free or hand-held cell phones.
That finding conflicts with a General Motors Corp. survey of its OnStar system. Looking at 8 million calls made between 1996 and 2001, GM found only two instances where crashes occurred.
* Researchers at Ford Motor Co. said dialing a cell phone increases a driver's chance of missing an important road event, like another driver weaving in and out of lanes.
"Your eyes can be on the road, but your mind will be in outer space," said Jeff Greenberg, a researcher with Ford's driver distraction research program.
The Ford research shows a normal, undistracted driver fails to notice an errant driver or other kind of important road event 3 percent of the time. An adult dialing a cell phone misses the event 13 percent of the time. A teenager dialing a cell phone misses it 53 percent of the time.
Greenberg said the Ford research went against conventional wisdom that suggests cell phones will be less of a risk for teenagers who have grown up with the technology.
Youths dial faster than adults, Greenberg said, but they also engage in risker behavior, like tailgating and taking longer to check the traffic in front of them.
The studies have begun to fill in some of the blanks, but more information is on the way.
Sixteen states are collecting cell-phone data in traffic crashes for the first time. After a few years, there may be enough data to establish clear safety trends.
Virginia Tech researchers are tracking 100 drivers for a year with on-board cameras and data recorders. Driver distraction will be one of the study's main focuses.
GM is funding a first-of-its-kind project at Wayne State University's School of Medicine that will use magnetic resonance imaging to watch the map brain activity of subjects in a driving simulator.
Besides distraction, the research also will gauge the effects of sleep deprivation, caffeine, alcohol and medications.
Short-term solutions
In the meantime, GM follows a set of design principles with its dashboard devices.
The automaker tries to minimize the time a driver takes his or her eyes off the road and hands off a steering wheel and the number of steps it takes to complete a task. GM also locks out more complex controls while the vehicle is in motion.
Other automakers are following voluntary guidelines drafted by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
At the same time, the Society of Automotive Engineers -- known as SAE -- is working on design standards, but the group has been frustrated by a telematics industry that is changing far faster than its committee can come to an agreement.
Most manufacturers are already following the committee's draft recommendations.
One SAE guideline is that a task that takes a driver's eyes off the road and hands off the steering wheel shouldn't take longer than 15 seconds to complete.
"The products are coming out, and we don't know as much as we'd like to know," said Paul Green, a scientist with the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute who is working with SAE.
"I do think we know enough to act. We should try to develop procedures and use them. We need to balance protecting public health with manufacturers' need to put things out."
(Photo)Ford driver distraction researcher Jeff Greenberg says this about using cell phones while driving: "Your eyes can be on the road, but your mind will be in outer space."
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Stacy94PGT
My first car was a 67 Mustang Coupe, 2nd one was a 67 Cougar XR-7, 3rd one was a 66 Mustang Coupe. Why did I get rid of these cars for ? I know why, because I'm stupid, stupid, stupid. 
My next Ford.....
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