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Accurate driving: how and why automotive innovations provoke accidents - study

The difficult epidemiological situation forces people to refuse to use public transport. There are more cars and, most importantly, motor riders.

Therefore, it is important to be careful and avoid emergency situations. Their reason may even be a full-time audio system. Specialists of the British NGO IAM Roadsmart warn : inattentive work with them creates a risk of accidents comparable to the use of illegal drugs. Experts urge manufacturers to improve ergonomics, and drivers to pre-set all the settings so as not to be distracted by the trip. We will tell you what risks come with new technologies and why people are not ready for them.


Photo by Miguel Ángel Hernández / Unsplash

Watch the road


The organizers of the above study conducted three rounds of trials. Drivers drove along the same track, but for the first time they weren’t distracted by anything, in the second they put music in Apple CarPlay and Android Auto through voice commands, in the third they used a touchscreen.

The participants showed the worst results in the latter case. They were distracted from the road by an average of 16 seconds - during this time at a speed of 60 km / h the car passes almost 300 meters. In addition, drivers began to deviate from the course, kept their distance worse and slowed down, creating interference with other road users.

When working with a touchscreen, their reaction time increased by more than one and a half times (53-57%), while using voice control - by 30-36%. According to researchers, smoking marijuana increases this figure by 21%. The organizers emphasized that in real life, drivers prefer a touchscreen rather than voice commands. The experiment participants themselves greatly underestimated the distracting factor of such manipulations - when they were asked how long they did not follow the road, they called on average 11 seconds instead of 16, that is, they were mistaken one and a half times.

The problem is in the heads


The reason multimedia systems have turned out to be so dangerous is because they combine all three types of distractions :

  • Visual - the driver looks away from the road.
  • Controlling - removes the hand from the steering wheel.
  • Cognitive - begins to think about the choice of music, and not about the traffic situation.

Back in 2017, analysts at the American University of Utah (University of Utah) recognized the risk of using any extraneous devices while driving, without exception. Researchers studied 30 multimedia programs that are built into luxury and mass models of cars. Not a single solution received a low threat rating: 12 were included in the maximum risk group, 11 in the "high", seven in the "medium".

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (AAA) experts who organized this study concluded that drivers were hampered by an oversized set of features. For example, setting up a route through the built-in navigator takes an average of 40 seconds. If the user tries to do this on the move, his attention to traffic events is greatly deteriorated. Specialists believe that manufacturers should turn off certain features when the car pulls away.

According to neurophysiologists, safe driving is in principle incompatible with any extraneous actions. One department of the brain is responsible for controlling mechanisms, planning and decision-making, so when you practice multitasking while driving, you physically overload your mental abilities.

The age of the drivers also plays a prominent role. Risks of accidents due to distractions increase significantly in people over 55 years of age - compared to millennials, they spend eight seconds more on multimedia operations. This is more than enough for an emergency, because AAA experts consider it risky to be distracted by more than two seconds. An additional danger arises if users are unable to do something the first time. They get annoyed, which can lead to rash actions on the road.

What else threatens road safety


In principle, any conscious driver should himself understand that he should not be distracted by music or phone calls. But what if, in practice, safety features increase road risks? Manufacturers are increasingly telling how their cars can track the distance themselves, maintain speed and direct course in the lane. Developers urge drivers not to weaken control, but many ignore such warnings. AAA experts reiterate that a false sense of security due to such systems doubles the likelihood that a person will be distracted from the road. Photo Tarutoa / Unsplash




Have you noticed multimedia billboards that broadcast ads and useful information like the weather? For drivers, this is another reason to lose concentration.

Iranian scientists have found that such objects force car owners to ignore signs at intersections. According to recordings from CCTV cameras, they estimated that 55% of drivers commit violations around multimedia billboards during the day, and 84% at night. In both cases, the time for switching attention exceeded the “safe” two seconds.

How to fix the situation


As you know, modern problems require modern solutions. Artificial intelligence specialists are already working on assistants to help maintain concentration while driving. For example, a device from Nauto, which has been tested in the Valley since 2017, is attached to the windshield and records all cases when the driver is distracted. Engineers will be able to use this data to increase the reliability of automation in machines.

Control modules are likely to be used in unmanned vehicles.. Owners of such cars should not be distracted from the road, even if they do not take an active part in the management. Now, in some models, they are monitored by cameras mounted in the steering wheel - so the electronics understand that a person is looking to the side. These devices can also recognize gestures so that car owners do not have the control problems with which we started this article.

Similar solutions will soon be able to test in Russia. For example, in 2022, a monitoring and warning system may appear in automobiles.about the risk of an accident. Cameras will record communication by phone, and additional sensors - speeding and dangerous maneuvers. All collected data will be tried on emergency incident patterns, allowing you to recognize risks. The developers say that such systems will reduce the likelihood of an accident by one and a half times.

Another solution, Drive Safely, was developed at ITMO University (available on Habré ). The meaning is similar - the system collects data, analyzes it in the cloud and gives recommendations for safe driving. The application is already available, but for now, developers are improving its algorithms.

Future similar solutionshelp tidy drivers save on insurance, and traffic police will provide objective data on road accidents. But for now, car owners should rely only on their own skills.


Additional reading from our “Hi-Fi World”:

Radio recorders from the USSR: a brief history of audio systems in Soviet cars
Audio Interfaces: sound as a source of information on the road, in the office and in the sky
10 stories about sound - from spy games and conspiracy theories to ASMR


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