A new study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety shows that hands-free driving involves its own set of distractions. According to the Foundation, driver distraction can extend for 15-27 seconds after completing a task, such as dialing, changing music, or texting using voice commands. At 25 mph, the vehicle would have traveled the length of nearly four football fields in 27 seconds.
“The lasting effects of mental distraction pose a hidden and pervasive danger that would likely come as a surprise to most drivers,” said Peter Kissinger, President and CEO of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. “The results indicate that motorists could miss stop signs, pedestrians, and other vehicles while the mind is readjusting to the task of driving.”
The study utilized ten model year 2015 vehicles and three types of smart phones. Each vehicle has its own system of hands-free technology, and the study produced different results for each. Researchers used a five-point scale, with category 1 being the lowest and 5 the highest.
Previous research by AAA established a category 1 distraction to be equivalent to listening to the radio or audio book. Talking on the phone is a category 2 distraction, and sending voice activated texts is a category 3, assuming the system is error-free. Updating social media elicits a category 4, and category 5 is the result of challenging scientific tests designed to tear a driver’s attention away from the road. AAA considers a score of two or above to be “potentially dangerous.”
The Chevrolet Equinox had the lowest rate of distraction at 2.4, while the worst was the Mazda 6 with a 4.6. Google Now beat out the other phones with a 3.0 distraction rating, followed by Apple Siri with a 3.4 and Microsoft Cortana with a 3.4. The highest numbers were recorded when test subjects sent voice-activated texts, with Microsoft Cortana rated as a category 4.4 distraction.
A total of 257 drivers ages 21-70 participated in the study of 2015 model-year vehicles, while 65 additional drivers ages 21-68 tested the three phone systems. Dr. David Strayer and Dr. Joel Cooper of the University of Utah conducted the study. The American Automobile Association has been researching cognitive distraction in relation to hands-free technology since 2013.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.