Is in-car technology safe?

Cnet interviews Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford, on their gadget push for cars among other topics. I always felt that technology made cars less safe, he makes a pretty good case for the opposite. Twitter while you drive? Are you serious? What do you think? If you've got time watch the 17 min interview, esp the first part re car gadgets:

A conversation with Ford CEO Alan Mulally | CNET Conversations - CNET News

mbohn said:

Cnet interviews Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford, on their gadget push for cars among other topics. I always felt that technology made cars less safe, he makes a pretty good case for the opposite. Twitter while you drive? Are you serious? What do you think? If you've got time watch the 17 min interview, esp the first part re car gadgets:

A conversation with Ford CEO Alan Mulally | CNET Conversations - CNET News

Click to expand...

Depends how you define safe. If someone is doing 10 different things while driving (9 of which are not actually related to driving)...then of course having all of this technology in a car will make things less safe.

If this technology is in a car...people will use it. And if this technology distracts someone while driving...then it is unsafe.

But then again...I remember my grandfather (many many years ago) would never even turn on the radio because he felt it was a distraction while driving!

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

But then again...I remember my grandfather (many many years ago) would never even turn on the radio because he felt it was a distraction while driving!

- Nick

Click to expand...

...and he was right.

Did you know that before European-made cars were sold in the U.S. they did not even have drink holders? They take driving seriously.
Regardless of speed, drivers in this country do not pay enough attention to the road and surrounding conditions. I see the scariest stuff every day on the road.

pigoo3 said:

If this technology is in a car...people will use it. And if this technology distracts someone while driving...then it is unsafe.

Click to expand...

I agree with this (why else would you buy the technology) but it's amazing how often people will use the technology without regard for others on the road. Cell phones were banned in my neck of the woods while driving (except for 911 calls) recently but what interests me was the inclusion of DVD players and portable video games in the law (see here). After reading this, I can't believe people actually watch DVDs or played games while driving.

What's perhaps even more disturbing about the increased pervasiveness of technology is the fact that it has to be in cars because many people can't be without technology for more than five minutes. I love technology but I have no problem getting away from it for a while (I quite enjoy it sometimes). Why do we need all of this technology in cars? GPS I can understand but 90% of the other technology serves no purpose but to distract drivers.

I agree. I think it is dangerous but I could not live without a radio in my car. I think some of the technology is really helpful (gps, on star etc...) but the rest of it is just a complete distraction even though some of it is entertaining.

I'm as guilty as anyone - I like to think I'm not distracted, but I am. However, I think things like Ford's "Sync" system are a decent solution to a real problem (and it's not the technology, but drivers who won't do without it, regardless of whether they need it or not).

Anything can be a distraction, not just technology. The people in the car with you. The vanity mirror...

I think we had a similar discussion on this before...had to do with cellphones and eating while driving.

Related video: there are too many things wrong with this to count!!

YouTube - My Monkey Baby

Anything that takes your attention causes makes you unsafe. But some technologies are made to make people more safe for things their likely going to do anyway, like messing with the radio, talking on the phone, or looking at directions.

I admit that I have talked on my phone while driving, but I will devote most of my attention to the road and won't change lanes while talking. It's not right, but it's not nearly as bad as texting, which takes your mental AND visual attention away from the road.

MYmacROX said:

Did you know that before European-made cars were sold in the U.S. they did not even have drink holders?

Click to expand...

When I started driving...American cars didn't have drink holders either!

- Nick

Why I don't like newer cars. Way too much, I drive my car to. . . well, drive. I rarely ever talk on my phone while driving, if at all. I do text, but I use the TTS service on my phone instead of typing. Newer cars are a pain anyway. It's almost impossible to do simple work on them. My grandma's '04 accord is IMPOSSIBLE to do anything. Do simply change the air filter I had to remove the whole intake off the throttle body in order for the airbox to even budge. And don't even get me started on the spark plugs. I think companies design engine compartments so you are almost forced to pay a shop or the stealership.

Anyway, so I stop myself from ranting, my opinion is that car companies are putting in way too manyunecessary things in the simple car. Ford Sync is a great idea, but with my experiences it was hard to use and took much more effort to make a simple call than just pressing 2 buttons on my phone todo the same action. Oh and that was after getting bluetooth to connect, which is a whole other story.

Any distraction can be unsafe. Just how unsafe is dependent on the driver, their skill level and the conditions of the road.

driver skill level, and commitment to attentiveness... !

The rare times when I take a call while driving I end up at my destination without any clue how I got there. It is pretty scary.

What I found interesting in Mulally's interview was that he claimed Ford had data showing that if in-vehicle technology was integrated properly it could be used safely and actually improve operator attentiveness. In light of my first paragraph, I find that hard to believe.

The funny thing is that the old habits are still as distracting as all the technology we have today.

Reaching for something is still in a tie for #1 distraction with the cell phone.

And if you're a parent you need to know your kids WILL pick up your bad habits. Teens learn first from the way parents drive.

mbohn said:

The rare times when I take a call while driving I end up at my destination without any clue how I got there. It is pretty scary.

What I found interesting in Mulally's interview was that he claimed Ford had data showing that if in-vehicle technology was integrated properly it could be used safely and actually improve operator attentiveness. In light of my first paragraph, I find that hard to believe.

Click to expand...

Sorry to repeat your post, but I lost you somewhere between "The rare times" and "hard to believe".

Most, if not all, DVD players (at least none OEM ones) have a system where the e-brake has to be engaged to allow you to view DVDs. Some of these are much easier to bypass than others. I bypassed mine, but I've only had DVDs playing in the vehicle when I'm the only occupant on maybe the one occasion I drove to the beach. I don't watch, I just listen.

They're mainly there to get the female passengers to quit talking my ear off. Women should be seen, not heard

Didn't feel like starting a totally different thread, but how is this for technology.



Need an extra hand? >_<"

I bet this is safe...>_>"

You too can have this amazing product for the low low price of 2 dollars. Some assemblage required.

i hate technology in cars because when it breaks its so expensive to fix, and i'm not talking about DVD players here..... electric windows, electric side mirrors.

had a problem with my electric windows that required £200 of work to fix as they had to take the dashboard apart to find a short. in the old days they would have looked under the door panel and fixed the mechanism.

fine when this stuff works, but when it doesn't it really messes you around.

bungy said:

i hate technology in cars because when it breaks its so expensive to fix, and i'm not talking about DVD players here..... electric windows, electric side mirrors.

had a problem with my electric windows that required £200 of work to fix as they had to take the dashboard apart to find a short. in the old days they would have looked under the door panel and fixed the mechanism.

fine when this stuff works, but when it doesn't it really messes you around.

Click to expand...

+1 !!!!!

Electric mirrors, windows, sun roofs, convertibles... Use 'em and love 'em, break 'em and weep.

I've got a light behind the dash that's out. Thought it was the bulb, but then it came back on, so it's wiring. Before I knew that, had the car in for routine maintenance, and asked how much for a new bulb. They said $1, but the labor would be $200-$300 because of the time it took to get to it and put the dashboard back together! It's only in winter that we can't see our gas gauge at night. We use a flashlight.

CrimsonRequiem said:

Anything can be a distraction, not just technology.

Click to expand...

I think it does come down to that. I remember reading a study awhile back when the whole cell phone ban debate was going about how it's not the hands-free that was the problem but rather the distraction from talking and focusing a person's attention on the conversation rather than paying attention to the road. It happens with parents trying to deal with their kids in the backseat while driving or teenagers fooling around with their friends in the car, etc.

Adding certain technology just adds to that problem. Just imagine a bunch of teenagers trying to update their Twitter accounts while fooling around in the car. Also I don't know about the rest of the world but here in my part of the US it was extremely easy for me to get a driving license. I could have been half asleep and still pass. My driver's training wasn't that great either. So add a driver with little driver's training and many distractions just seems like a recipe for disaster. It has been many years since I got my license so things might have changed but seeing all the bad drivers in my area I don't think much has changed.

vansmith said:

What's perhaps even more disturbing about the increased pervasiveness of technology is the fact that it has to be in cars because many people can't be without technology for more than five minutes. I love technology but I have no problem getting away from it for a while (I quite enjoy it sometimes).

Click to expand...

I've noticed this technology addiction too. For example, if you take a teenager's cell phone away for a few minutes they go through withdrawals like a drug addict. That's why voice mail was invented...you don't have to pick up the phone every time you get a call or text. Technology can definitely make our lives easier and I love technology myself too but I think in this case the wrong kinds of technology are actually making things worst.

Ford was noticing that technology like Sync was helping their sales so like any company out to make money they are just giving their customers more of it. I don't really think they are overly concerned about safety as long as it sells.