Infotainment bad, blind spot and lane-departure warnings good, studies say

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Infotainment systems in new cars are getting too complex, according to a study commissioned by the AAA Foundation. The research, which tested 30 different 2017 model year vehicles, found that many functions-most notably entering a new navigation destination-are so distracting that they should not be performed by the driver while the vehicle is in motion.

So it's good to know that advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), like blind spot monitoring and lane departure warnings, are saving lives, according to the findings of another study, this time from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration just announced, however, that the number of road deaths in the US has increased for the second year running.

The first study was conducted by David Strayer and colleagues at the University of Utah and is part of a long-running research program funded by the AAA Foundation on distracted driving. The report, which was published this week, sought to answer several questions about current infotainment systems, which it notes are getting ever more complex. Among these were which types of tasks are the most distracting and if it's more work to interact with controls in the center of the dashboard (either buttons or a touchscreen, the study did not discriminate), controls between the front seats, or voice commands.

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