Vehicle infotainment systems found to be more distracting than texting while driving

The study commissioned by the UK’s largest independent road-safety charity, IAM RoadSmart, found that drivers took their eyes off the road for as long as 16 seconds when using things such as an infotainment touchscreen. Participants in the study underestimated the time they thought they had spent looking away from the road by as much as five seconds.

For the study, participants were asked to do a series of drives on a simulated test route which would assess the level of impact of using infotainment systems Android Auto and Apple CarPlay had on their driving. On the first run, drivers did not interact with the system. On the next run, participants would use the infotainment system using voice control only and then for the final drive, using the touch screen only.

Voice control and touchscreen methods were found to significantly distract the driver, however the touchscreen method was the more distracting of the two. During the simulated test, many drivers who acknowledged that the infotainment system was causing a distraction modified their driving behaviour by slowing down.

In some cases, the reaction times of the drivers tested were significantly slower than someone who had been texting while driving and five times worse than someone driving at the legal limit of alcohol consumption.

Participants also failed to react as often to on road situations when engaging with the touchscreen systems compared to full attention driving, with reaction times being more than 50 per cent slower. When the driver was selecting music through Spotify via the touchscreen, the study results found their reactions were more impaired compared to texting while driving.

Neil Greig, policy and research director, IAM RoadSmart says that although new in-car infotainment systems were designed to help improve driver and road safety, the results of the study were quite the opposite.

“While previous research indicates that Apple CarPlay and Android Auto perform better than more traditional buttons and controls, the results from this latest study raise some serious concerns about the development and use of the latest in-vehicle infotainment systems. Anything that distracts a driver’s eyes or mind from the road is bad news for road safety.”

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