Using In-Car Media

Almost half of UK motorists are seriously distracted by in-car technology whilst driving.

46% of the drivers polled find gadgets severely divert their attention while on the road, with the figure rising to 55% among 17-24 year olds.

Although mobile phones and satellite navigation systems are often touted as the top distractions, the main culprit is more familiar technology:
• 54% admit they have been seriously distracted by their radio, CD or DVD player, with the 17-24 year old age group again proving the most affected (63%)
• 35% are distracted by their heating/air conditioning controls
• 34% are distracted by their SatNav (this rises to 40% among young drivers and to • 49% among high mileage drivers).
• 32% say their mobile phone has seriously distracted them, rising to 41% among 17-24-year-olds

In-car technology has come a long way since the late '80s. The advances have fallen into two camps – active and passive. Active technologies such as in-car entertainment are not always positive as they can cause driver distraction, while passive technologies, such as anti-locking brake systems (ABS), are undervalued as they are not fully understood or deemed less important as they come on automatically.

The latest report backs this up with millions of motorists not sure what technology is fitted to their cars, and indeed, how it actually works.

ABS and immobilisers are fitted as standard on new cars by law, only 70% of motorists knew that they had ABS, whilst only 68% knew that they had immobilisers.

And as cars get more technologically complex, drivers are faced with more and more warning signals on their dashboard. These are meant alert drivers to potential problems, but it seems they are also leading to confusion over what all these signals mean, for example only half of drivers recognise the symbol for an airbag.

It's not surprising then that 85% of motorists believe the complexity of cars today means people need to be taught how to use in-car technology properly.

When looking to the next 20 years of motoring, drivers believe that technology is going to advance even further:
• 23% believe the cars will be manufactured with in-built technology that enables the driver to simply input an end destination then sit back and enjoy the ride more than a third (35%) think cars will be able to ‘talk’ to each other in order to pinpoint and avoid traffic
• 71% believe cars will be able to tell you when you are driving over the speed limit, with 50% predicting cars will not allow drivers to exceed the speed limits
• 60% predict fingerprint, voice or breath recognition will replace keys as the traditional method of starting a car.