Do gadgets in cars cause crashes?

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by the BBC

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4266425.stm
Almost half of drivers admit they have been distracted by in-car gadgets, sometimes even causing them to crash, according to a survey

Now, with gadgets increasingly appearing in cars (even Volkswagons, which previously had fairly basic interiors), it seems they have been known to cause crashes

One in five of 1,500 drivers quizzed by Privilege Insurance admitted swerving out of their lane while changing CDs or fiddling with the instruments panel.

In the past, the driver just had to deal with the heating, steering wheel, accelerator, (possibly) clutch, brake, gears, cigarette lighter and Radio. Now, he or she has all that, and possibly a CD changer, Air Conditioner & GPS system..

Some drivers said manufacturers should limit the number of gadgets in cars.

But road accident consultant Doug Boulton said the decision to use gadgets should be left to drivers.

I agree with the expert. Just because a gadget is there, does not mean you have to use it all the time. I also think that drivers should be careful when using these gadgets.

What do you think? I personally think that gadgets help cause car crashes (after all, if you didn't have a CD player in the car, you wouldn't be fiddling about changing CDs, same with any gadget - if you don't have it, you can't fiddle with it).

Do you think car manufacturers should reduce the number of gadgets in cars? Do you think drivers should be more careful?

I actually think that manufacturers, if they do fit gadgets, should make it far easier for the passenger to fiddle with them than the driver (e.g. position the CD player so it's easier for the passenger to reach than the driver).

They should also think carefully about placing controls on the steering column. This can (apparently) be safer if done well, but not safe if done badly. It's all very well placing the controls for the heating, radio, cd player (even iPod in the case of BMW) etc on the steering column, but if the driver has so many buttons, switches and sticks on the steering column that he or she has to look each time they adjust each control, it sort of defeats the point.

I do also think that drivers should be careful when using gadgets (or for that matter, doing anything that requires removing a hand from the steering wheel for an extended period of time while moving, or taking their eyes off the road at all).

[Ramrod]

Do gadgets in cars cause crashes?

Undoubtedly.......

[Rob]

Do gadgets in cars cause crashes?

Most definitely. Anyone remember the clip shown on those police stop type bad driver programmes. A mini I think it was follwed by a police car. The mini drove straight into the back of a parked car. Turned out driver was changing the CD. Bourne out by the insurer's survey quoted above.

I suspect sat nav, can be the worst, especially if there is a screen showing directions. What will the driver look at more, the road ahead, or the screen. At least with a conventional A-Z, most would find somewhere to stop, to check the next bit of the route.

[gazzae]

Do gadgets in cars cause crashes?

Nope.

Does being irresponsible and using gadgets that takes your focus off the road cause crashes?

Yes

I suspect sat nav, can be the worst, especially if there is a screen showing directions. What will the driver look at more, the road ahead, or the screen.

Once you have it programmed you shouldn't have to look at the screen.

At least with a conventional A-Z, most would find somewhere to stop, to check the next bit of the route.

And the people who would let them be distracted by a Sat Nav while driving are probably the same ones who wouldn't bother pulling over to check their A-Z

Its not just gadgets you get with the car that distract drivers. Mobile phones, pagers, PDA's distract as well. IMO I think driving while tired is a big contributory factor to road accidents.

[me283]

Do gadgets in cars cause crashes?

No. More often than not, driver error causes a crash; the driver may have been distracted by a gadget, but that's the driver's fault, not the SatNav/CD player/iPod etc.

Interesting though, I had a "chat" with a traffic copper a while back. I said that I thought the ban on using phones in a car was a bad idea; his support for it was based on the likelihood of the driver being distracted by someone talking to him, although he thought that a passenger doing the same was not a problem. Strange.

Anyway, back to the point. Ultimately it's driver error, but these days the number and nature of gadgets in cars don't help in keeping drivers focussed on the road.

[Gareth]

Originally Posted by me283

Interesting though, I had a "chat" with a traffic copper a while back. I said that I thought the ban on using phones in a car was a bad idea; his support for it was based on the likelihood of the driver being distracted by someone talking to him, although he thought that a passenger doing the same was not a problem. Strange.

The traffic cop was actually right - there was a survey carried out that measured concentration levels of drivers having a conversation with a passenger in the car compared with a conversation on a mobile phone and nobody else in the car. Surprisingly enough, more effort was required to partake in the conversation via phone, which led to less concentration on driving the car. The test was set up to simulate children randomly running from behind parked cars, and in virtually every case, the driver could stop in time when talking with their passenger, yet they'd hit the sim when using their mobile phone.

I'm sure it was set-up by the AA... or at least sponsored/funded by them. It was quite an eye-opener.

[me283]

Originally Posted by Gareth

The traffic cop was actually right - there was a survey carried out that measured concentration levels of drivers having a conversation with a passenger in the car compared with a conversation on a mobile phone and nobody else in the car. Surprisingly enough, more effort was required to partake in the conversation via phone, which led to less concentration on driving the car. The test was set up to simulate children randomly running from behind parked cars, and in virtually every case, the driver could stop in time when talking with their passenger, yet they'd hit the sim when using their mobile phone.

I'm sure it was set-up by the AA... or at least sponsored/funded by them. It was quite an eye-opener.

I can see the point, but I would say that depends entirely on the driver. His reasoning was that a passenger would be able to see what was about to happen ahead of the vehicle and stop talking; but that sounded like nonsense to me for many reasons.

Basically, cars with gadgets don't always have accidents; cars without gadgets do have accidents. As for statistics, there was a famous saying about that...

From a personal perspective, I have a car with quite a few gadgets. I have also used SatNav, mobile phone, CD player etc whilst at the wheel, and haven't had an "at fault" accident for over 20 years, in spite of doing around 30,000 miles per year. (Hope I don't tempt fate!). However, I know people who have had a prang just by backing out of their drive without looking... it proves nothing, but would indicate that maybe some drivers have less "road awareness" full stop?