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Is new car technology safe?

On Behalf of | Apr 20, 2020 | Firm News

If you are one of the many consumers who is thinking about shopping for a new car, truck or sport utility vehicle soon and it has been some time since you have purchased a new vehicle, you will want to educate yourself about the many new features commonly included in or available with today’s models. More and more new vehicles are coming equipped with infotainment systems that allow you to communicate via phone calls or texts while driving, get directional assistance and enjoy music, podcasts or audio books.

While these infotainment systems may be popular, a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety uncovered that they pose a significant danger. In essence, these systems may simply be new forms of distracted driving. A low demand on drivers would be considered safe by AAA, yet none of the 40 systems evaluated in the study fell into that category. Instead, 17 placed a very high demand on drivers, 12 a high demand and the remaining 11 a moderate level of demand.

The task that took driver’s attention away from the road for the longest on average was programming in a destination to get navigational help. In some cases, this required up to 48 seconds of a driver’s time, giving more than ample opportunity for an accident to take place.

This information is not intended to provide legal advice but is instead meant to give drivers an overview of how dangerous some in-vehicle technology systems may be so that they may make wise decisions when driving and know what to watch for in other drivers when on the road.