Too Much Technology Crammed Into Cars These Days, More Distractions

Do you think there's too much distractive technology crammed into vehicles these days?

  • Yes, it's too much and causes dangerous distractions.

    Votes: 16 55.2%

  • No, I like all the new technology and think it's convenient or safer.

    Votes: 11 37.9%

  • No opinion.

    Votes: 2 6.9%
  • Total voters
    29
SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
Location
USA
Do you think there's too much technology being crammed into new vehicles these days? Seems like they keep on adding and adding excessive buttons and features in the new cars, even more reasons to take your eyes off the road and not concentrate on what you should be doing behind the wheel.....driving. Take the poll and tell us too much, or you're good with it all.

Some more information on the subject here.

Automakers now include more options to allow drivers to use social media, email and text. The technology is also becoming more complicated to use. Cars used to have a few buttons and knobs. Some vehicles now have as many as 50 buttons on the steering wheel and dashboard that are multi-functional. There are touch screens, voice commands, writing pads, heads-up displays on windshields and mirrors and 3-D computer-generated images.


“It’s adding more and more layers of complexity and information at drivers’ fingertips without often considering whether it’s a good idea to put it at their fingertips,” Strayer said. That complexity increases the overall amount of time drivers spend trying to use the systems.


The auto industry says the new systems are better alternatives for drivers than mobile phones and navigation devices that were not designed to be used while driving.


The vehicle-integrated systems “are designed to be used in the driving environment and require driver attention that is comparable to tuning the radio or adjusting climate controls, which have always been considered baseline acceptable behaviors while driving,” said Wade Newton, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.


But Jake Nelson, AAA’s director for traffic safety advocacy and research, said drivers testing all 30 of the 2017 model year cars and light trucks took their eyes off the road and hands off the wheel while using infotainment systems.

The test drivers used voice commands, touch screens and other interactive technologies to make calls, send texts, tune the radio or program navigation all while driving.


Clearly automakers haven’t worked hard enough to make the systems quick and easy to use, Nelson said. Researchers rated 23 of the 30 vehicles “very high” or “high” in terms of the attention they demanded from drivers. Seven were rated “moderate.” None required a low amount of attention to use.
Click to expand...
 

I believe so. I don't have half of that stuff in my car, but it would sure be distracting if I did. It would explain the bad driving habits of everybody else I meet on the road. :eek:
 
Safety equipment excluded voice communication is pure distraction. Getting from point "a" to point "b" without an accident depends on a driver paying attention to the traffic. It's been shown voice communication is 4 times worse that driving drunk when it comes to causing an accident. Combine drunk driving with the drunk on a phone and the odds increase that someone is going to be injured.

A Sunday drive with the family is a thing of the past, with so much traffic now staying alive going to the grocery store is a challenge.
 

I absolutely think the technology is overdone, and is a distraction. With all the stuff in my new car, I've had to learn to ignore most of it while the car is in motion.
 
For me it is too much and I also have a problem with the newest cars that attempt to think and react for me.

My 2012 model has a feature that applies the brakes to a wheel that is not getting traction when it is slippery and the automatic brakes lock up when you try to stop on icy pavement. IMO these things are more dangerous, for me, than they are helpful. I can't imagine how I will feel when I upgrade to a new model and have buzzers going off when the car drifts slightly or have the brakes applied when the car senses a dangerous object. I wish they would let me drive or come up with a fully self driving car and leave me out of the decision making.
 
I have a wonderful old Mazda that gets great gas mileage and is very low maintenance. The one thing I wish it had is a back-up camera and warning signal. In lieu of that, I park on the outer fringes of parking lots so I don't have to worry about people doing distracted walking or zooming around in the parking lot. Good exercise too, I figure.
 
Oops, my 'yes' vote was meant as "yes, I like all the new technology and think it's convenient or safer." I really meant no.

That said, the last car I bought was a 2015 Corrolla, and it was pretty much the bargain model that you see as 'bait' on a dealer's website.

Things it has:

Air conditioning
Electric windows & locks
AM/FM radio
USB ports
Bluetooth

The bluetooth is handy, I can sync my phone with the car system, play music from my phone over the car speakers.

Also, do "hands-free" phone conversations.


The car does not have a navigation screen, or associated GPS. Doesn't have an alarm system or LoJack.

I don't know what else new cars may come with, but my car doesn't have it...that's OK,

before you get the car paid off, any 'fancy' electronics will be waay outdated.

Consumer Reports has advised over the years to just treat yourself to buying a top-of-the-line cell phone,

rather than sink a bunch of money in automotive electronic frills.
 
Aunt Bea said:
For me it is too much and I also have a problem with the newest cars that attempt to think and react for me.

My 2012 model has a feature that applies the brakes to a wheel that is not getting traction when it is slippery and the automatic brakes lock up when you try to stop on icy pavement. IMO these things are more dangerous, for me, than they are helpful. I can't imagine how I will feel when I upgrade to a new model and have buzzers going off when the car drifts slightly or have the brakes applied when the car senses a dangerous object. I wish they would let me drive or come up with a fully self driving car and leave me out of the decision making.
Click to expand...

I'm going with no opinion because I've never had one with the new technology. In a couple years I'll have to get a one. Some things might be good, like warning in the blind spot and backing up. I disabled ABS (anti-lock brake system) years ago by just pulling out a fuse. A mechanic showed me how. Bet you can't do that with the new ones. {sigh}
 
I like the safety features of the new technology. That's a large part of the reason I bought a car this year.

The safety features don't really distract you; what they sometimes do is wake you up by giving you a little "nudge." "Hey, dummy, you're straying over the line into the next lane." "Don't change lanes now, there's a car in your blind spot!" "Don't back up now, there's a pedestrian about to walk in back of your car!" And maybe unnecessarily, "Beep beep, the light just changed to green and the car in front of you has moved!"

But some of the technology is definitely a distraction. The GPS screen with its map is one. The beguiling audio system is another, especially if you use Sirius. The complicated heating and cooling systems distract you if you try messing around with them while you are driving. Not to mention the phone hookup technology, which I refuse to even learn how to use. I don't talk on my cell phone while driving.

So the question is quite a complicated one.
 
The bad thing about cars, anymore, is that when some of this "gee whiz" stuff breaks....and it will....it usually costs a fortune to get it fixed. Unless its something obvious, like a broken hose or belt, a mechanic almost has to hook up to a computer readout to find out what is wrong...and even that is often not accurate. It's almost to the point where an average car owner can't do much other than change a windshield wiper blade. If a person wants to increase their vocabulary of obscenities, try changing spark plugs on a V6 front wheel drive engine.

When listening to most new car commercials today, the emphasis seems to be on all the electronic gadgetry, instead of things like reliability, and handling.
 
I love all the gadgets! My car has the in-dash display screen with backup camera, GPS, weather, radio, AC controls, OnStar, etc. Steering wheel has about a dozen buttons. This is not my first car with a lot of electronics and I've never had an issue with any of the gadgets.

If you find them distracting, maybe you should turn in your keys.
 
I like the new technology in new cars. The wife and I lease a Kia Sportage with all the newer stuff. I especially like the blue tooth, hands free phone and the back up camera. Figuring out all the steering wheel buttons took a while, but I think I’ve got most of it down now.

The one thing I would never consider is a driverless car. No way...:confused:
 
Pappy said:
I like the new technology in new cars. The wife and I lease a Kia Sportage with all the newer stuff. I especially like the blue tooth, hands free phone and the back up camera. Figuring out all the steering wheel buttons took a while, but I think I’ve got most of it down now.

The one thing I would never consider is a driverless car. No way...:confused:
Click to expand...

Pappy, I'm hoping that in 10 years or so they have the bug worked out of self-driving cars. I'd like to quit driving at 80 or so and that would make it easier for me. But the technology will have to get waaaay better
 
Distracted Driving is now the Number One cause of traffic accidents and deaths. The National Safety Council says that over 26% of auto accidents are caused by drivers playing with their cell phones or "entertainment" systems while driving. Auto deaths due to Distraction have replaced Drunk Driving as the leading cause of driving deaths. The Only other category that causes more accidental deaths is "unintentional poisoning"...opioids, drug overdoses. etc. Playing with a cell phone, or fiddling with the "touch screen", etc., takes a drivers attention off the road, and those around him/her. At highway speeds, it only takes a fraction of a second to veer out of lane, etc., and cause a bad wreck.

http://www.nsc.org/NewsDocuments/2014-Press-Release-Archive/3-25-2014-Injury-Facts-release.pdf
 
lol - If you have a problem with the technology, I suggest you call Uber or Lyft, since virtually all new cars come with these features.

I use them, but I use them safely. My grandfathers would have said that a radio in the car is a distraction.
 
I would *hope* you can turn most of the features off, if you don't want to use them. Please tell me that's true. :playful:
 
Hoot N Annie said:
lol - If you have a problem with the technology, I suggest you call Uber or Lyft, since virtually all new cars come with these features.
Click to expand...

I don't have any problem with these "entertainment" features in newer cars...I simply don't use them. For me, getting from point A to B safely is the priority, and I'm not stupid enough to be playing with a cell phone, or poking around on the dashboard display, looking for the nearest restaurant while doing 70MPH. I routinely dodge fools who think their car is an Entertainment center, or a mobile phone booth. So far, I've been lucky, but if one of these clowns ever hits me, and I survive, I will have my lawyer subpoena his cell phone records, and the records from his vehicles computer. If they show Distracted Driving, I will own everything in that individual's Net Worth.
 
Don M. said:
When listening to most new car commercials today, the emphasis seems to be on all the electronic gadgetry, instead of things like reliability, and handling.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Sell the sizzle, not the steak.

Sorry to have an opposing viewpoint to many in this thread, but back-up cameras are to me just a useless frill. When I learned to drive I didn't have one nor did I ever need one - it wasn't as if I were driving an eighteen-wheeler. Just turn your head, scan the area behind you and voilà.

I can understand if you have arthritis or other limited mobility, though.

It all goes back to what my first martial arts teacher used to say - "people aren't aware of their environment".
 
SifuPhil said:
Exactly. Sell the sizzle, not the steak.

Sorry to have an opposing viewpoint to many in this thread, but back-up cameras are to me just a useless frill. When I learned to drive I didn't have one nor did I ever need one - it wasn't as if I were driving an eighteen-wheeler. Just turn your head, scan the area behind you and voilà.

I can understand if you have arthritis or other limited mobility, though.

It all goes back to what my first martial arts teacher used to say - "people aren't aware of their environment".
Click to expand...

The camera doesn't replace common sense, it augments it. Also, my car has sensors front and rear so that if someone you didn't see walks behind you car you get an audible warning. When used properly, it's all good. Of course, there have always been careless drivers, regardless of the technology. That's nothing new. So turn off the damn AM radio and concentrate on what you are doing. :)
 
Hoot N Annie said:
The camera doesn't replace common sense, it augments it. Also, my car has sensors front and rear so that if someone you didn't see walks behind you car you get an audible warning. When used properly, it's all good. Of course, there have always been careless drivers, regardless of the technology. That's nothing new. So turn off the damn AM radio and concentrate on what you are doing. :)
Click to expand...

I don't think it's about common sense, though - it's about being able to scan your immediate surroundings, not being in such a hurry, and not relying upon technology to do everything but brush your teeth for you. ;) I can understand the augmentation, but at what point does that become reliance?

The lane-drift sensors? Unless you're falling asleep, you should be aware of when you start drifting into another lane. Just like the emergency braking systems - if you (the generic "you", not you personally :)) weren't speeding and tailgating, you'd have plenty of time to assess the situation and apply your brakes.

Maybe I'm just too old-fashioned, but the way I see it, if Bogey didn't have it, I don't need it. :eek:
 

You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top