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The majority of automobile infotainment systems actually increase distraction, non ease it. Then says the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the Academy of Utah, which tested thirty different cars and found 23 create loftier or very levels of distraction across a range of scenarios. Merely 7 created what were described as moderate levels of distraction, and none reduced distraction. The data is helpful in setting the stage for more discussion and ignores longer-term trends, such as whether on-board navigation can be considered all that distracting when people were driving while reading folding paper maps 20 years ago.

Cognitive need placed on the driver in University of Utah / AAA Foundation report on driver distraction. Information points further correct betoken more more difficulty / fourth dimension spent using infotainment, and more recorded distraction.

What AAA Tested

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Rubber is an adjunct of AAA, the longstanding drivers' gild for mainstream motorists. Information technology partnered with the University of Utah, which did the inquiry and compiled a 104-page report with a suitably academic title, Visual and Cerebral Demands of Using In-Vehicle Infotainment Systems (PDF). Tests were conducted on the 30 2022 model year vehicles over a 2-mile, 25 mph public route, measuring how well the drivers, age 21-36, managed to perform tasks involving the navigation system, sending and receiving texts, calling and dialing on a connected smartphone, and using multiple music sources.

Here'due south how the cars fared:

Very High Distraction (Based on AAA / U of Utah Tests)

  • Audi Q7 QPP
  • Chrysler 300 C
  • Dodge Durango GT
  • Ford Mustang GT
  • GMC Yukon SLT
  • Honda Civic Touring
  • Honda Ridgeline RTL-Eastward
  • Mazda3 Touring
  • Nissan Armada SV
  • Subaru Crosstrek Premium
  • Tesla Model S
  • Volvo XC60 T5 Inscription

High Distraction

  • Cadillac XT5 Luxury
  • Chevrolet Traverse LT
  • Contrivance Ram 1500
  • Ford Fusion Titanium
  • Hyundai Sonata Base
  • Infiniti Q50 Premium
  • Jeep Compass Sport
  • Jeep One thousand Cherokee Limited
  • Kia Sorento Sixty
  • Nissan Maxima SV
  • Toyota Rav 4 XLE

Moderate Distraction

  • Chevrolet Equinox  LT
  • Ford F250 XLT
  • Hyundai Santa Fe Sport
  • Lincoln MKC Premiere
  • Toyota Camry SE
  • Toyota Corolla SE
  • Toyota Sienna XLE

Minimal Distraction / Reduced Distraction

  • None

Some teens can provide their own distraction, helped by turning the book knob to xi.

Surprising (?): Bear on screen Easiest Input Method

Our experience has been that touch screens are fabulous when the vehicle is parked, but on a bouncy road, it's a bear to accurately enter data, or fifty-fifty to make choices. Touch screens without buttons or knobs are more troublesome, so we'd wait something similar Cadillac CUE to rate poorly (it's in the high but not highest distraction category), whereas the simpler Chevrolet MyLink interface with more and larger buttons should be easier to use (Chevrolet Traverse rated high distraction, while Chevrolet Equinox rated moderate distraction).

The study ranked input methods from least to most distracting: touch screens and physical switches or knobs, voice commands, touchpads ("writing pads"), and dials or cockpit control wheels. Some input methods were not tested, such as Tinder-like swipe gestures.

2016 Harris poll for Chevrolet says parents worry most well-nigh condom driving. Based on trends of the past 2-3 years, opioids and other drugs should get equal attending. Merely information technology's not unusual to focus on, say, the potential of your child being kidnapped (low) versus injured in a crash because mom or dad didn't make the back seat dwellers buckle up.

Broader Problems to Consider

Commuter distraction is a huge upshot to consider, so the report is timely and useful, equally far every bit it goes. With more time and funding, there'south more to be learned. Here's what nosotros'd similar to encounter as funds catamenia to learn more than about auto injuries and fatalities:

Infotainment should exist tested across multiple years. Consider Honda'southward early 2022s system, with lots of buttons only a small screen. It was followed past Display Audio with nothing buttons and zero knobs, not even voice or tuning. Honda finally relented ii years ago and put dorsum the volume knob, and now with the stellar 2022 Honda Accordance ready to hit the market, Display Sound has 8 buttons and two knobs.

Results should be broken out past LCD screen size and position. A big screen in the centre of the dash is easier to tap on; it'southward easier to read when mounted on the top of the dash.

AAA could drill down on the radio tuning tasks, and see how easy or hard it is if in that location's an external row of presets; sometimes the buttons can be used for nav destinations or favorite music choices.

The same tests should exist run on Android Auto and Apple CarPlay to see if they're easier to apply. No matter what car they're on, they work about the same. Also, information technology would be helpful to see how the recorded distraction levels change as drivers get more feel. Turning testers loose on the car today for a baseline, then letting them drive the same car for a calendar month, so repeating the tests, would show how task times autumn as drivers learn how to work the machines.

GM Super Cruise driver lark camera.

In that location are teen commuter tools that permit parents ready a volume limit on the infotainment organization, or lock information technology at one-half-book unless forepart seat belts are fastened. But other teen prophylactic tools are limiting even if they sound skilful, such as a speedometer tattletale if the immature driver, for case, exceeds 50 mph. Now that car navigation typically includes road-by-route speed limit information, it would be a no-brainer to let parents gear up the tattletale at 5 mph above the posted speed, just so far no automaker has washed that. Cadillac's Super Cruise semi-democratic driving system includes a camera with IR night lighting that warns if the commuter'south eyes wander for more 5-10 seconds. This would be dandy for teen (and all commuter) prophylactic were Super Cruise standard on something cheaper than the $85,000 Cadillac CT6 sedan (or a $5,000 selection on CT6's starting at $55,000).

When I test-drove Ford's multi-million-dollar Virtexx driving simulator several years ago, I found information technology was possible to reduce distraction–if you really had to do something distracting–by breaking the task into multiple small-scale chunks of interaction. This isn't so much smart as it is less-stupid. But it helps.

Historical information is likewise useful. An AM/FM/cassette radio of the seventies is perchance easier to use because you accept fewer choices and big concrete buttons. But the death toll then was about iv per 100 meg miles driven, while now it's just over i per 100MM. There was a recent uptick the terminal two years, which safety advocates say is most probable linked to distractions.

Other distractions from the past were unsafe. The researchers are comparing cars from the 2022 model year. Go back to the menstruum from merely past Earth State of war II until the 1960s (first seat belts) and 1970s (first airbags): These cars more than frequently lacked air conditioning, and driving with the windows open led to wind noise and buffeting that was irksome. Two of the biggest distractions of the era, other than big hair getting defenseless in the sunroof, were dropping a lit cigarette in your lap and trying to bargain with a bee that flew in the open window.

On an even broader level, when comparing where to spend resarch and prevention money, consider that auto fatalities have long been the leading cause of death amongst under-25s. But now, drug deaths (cheap opioids), homicides, and suicides are catching up, and in some cases surpassing car fatalities.

In short: The AAA Foundation/Academy of Utah written report is useful. But in that location is much more to research and deeper to dig.