Wired cars -- driving us to distraction

But a host of new conveniences from cell phones to on-board computers await the modern driver. A federal agency on Tuesday heard ideas on how to get attention back on the road.

"Driver distraction in all its forms is a real threat to the safety of American roads. This threat is growing and growing fast," Rosalyn Millman, deputy administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said at the start of the public hearing, which also has a Web component at driverdistraction.org for those who can't make it to the Washington meeting.

The safety agency released a survey showing that a quarter of the 6.3 million vehicle crashes each year in the United States involves some form of driver distraction or inattention.

Some 44 percent of drivers have phones in their vehicles or carry a cellular phone while driving, the agency estimated, and while hands-free cell phones have a safety advantage, there is still a danger in focusing on a conversation with the device.

"Hands free is not risk free," Millman said. "I have not seen any research or studies that suggest hands-free devices will solve the distraction problem."

A marketing director at Motorola Inc., which makes cellular phones, acknowledged more needs to be done to keep drivers focused. "There's certainly a lot of driver education that needs to take place because there is a lot of new technology coming on the scene," said Brain Gratch.

Automakers say they are also concerned about putting drivers in danger with new high-tech gadgets and welcome NHTSA's probe, as long as the agency doesn't start regulating what they install in new vehicles.

"Now with the roads becoming more congested and longer commutes and people spending more time in their cars, people want to do more as well," said Rob Strassburger, vice president of safety for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. "We are a customer driven set of companies, but we also need to make sure that what we are doing doesn't have the potential to distract."

The concerns are nothing new. Take cell phones, for example. As early as 1991, a study performed for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety pointed out that drivers on a cell phone call were 20 to 30 percent more likely to be involved in a "highway-traffic situation."

Another set of 1997 research in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the risk of being in an auto collision was greater -- as much as four times higher -- when using a cell phone, almost as dangerous as being drunk behind the wheel.

Among the NHTSA's recommendations is that states include data on cell phone use when investigating crashes. Currently only Minnesota and Oklahoma provide such information.

But automakers and other industry groups - such as cell-phone makers - stress that they are not to blame for accidents.

"It boils down to driver responsibility," said Lisa Ihde, manager of wireless education programs for the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association. "Your first response when you are driving a car is to drive safely.

"If you are driving through a congested area, through a work zone or in a parking area, you shouldn't be paying attention to the kids in the back seat, the CD, the hamburger or the phone ringing."

There is another fear on the part of the industries: the growing trend for local regulations against using new technology in cars.

No state bans the use of wireless phones in automobiles, and only California, Florida and Massachusetts have laws limiting cell phone use in moving vehicles, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. But dozens of U.S. communities are considering restrictions on cell phone use by drivers.

According to the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety, which has organized a campaign encouraging responsible use of new vehicle technologies, distracted drivers cause at least 4,000 accidents a day and perhaps as many as 8,000.

A 'TechnoCar' model touted by the electronics industry includes a remote control -- making driving even more of a challenge.

Thomas Dingus of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, who has been studying the distractions for 15 years, said his research shows that tuning the radio has about the same accident rate as new simple mapping systems.

"If we are willing to accept that level of risk, there is room to add features to the car that would increase convenience, but you have to be very, very careful when you do that," he said.

Dingus said crashes will increase significantly if the systems are not designed with maximum safety benefits in mind.

"I think it's feasible, but I think we need more and better information, we need more work, we need better designs, we need systems that don't allow them to do all these things at once," he said.