A leading road safety ground has issued a word of warning to car manufacturers who it claims could be inadvertently contributing to accidents with the growth in in-car technology.
The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) say drivers risk becoming distracted by built-in features such as sophisticated satellite navigation and GPS systems, and connectivity for smartphones for the internet and social media.
The group is calling on the UK Government to legislate against the problem by adopting the same response which is being introduced in the USA, where over the next three years motorists will become restricted in the amount of technology they can use behind the wheel. Based on guidelines developed by the US Department of Transportation and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, motorists in the United States will be prevented from using certain non-essential technology while the vehicle is moving, and manufacturers will not introduce any technological development which distracts the drivers attention from the road for more than two seconds. Official US Federal data showed 3,331 fatalities were caused by distracted drivers in 2011, while car accidents are the main cause of death for teenagers.
Sarah Sillars, IAM Chief Executive, said: “We cannot allow the same trends in the USA to happen here. While car makers work constantly to incorporate active and passive safety features into vehicles, making us safer than ever before, they are also guilty of making us too comfortable and making us feel more cosseted – like we were in our own living rooms. Technology could be a great way of helping to cut the numbers of people killed and seriously injured on our roads. It would be a tragedy if technology became a reason why more, rather than less, people lose their lives.”
Click here to sign up for our monthly newsletter
Popular news stories
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||
|
|
||||||
