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Let's All Go for a Ride-Call-Text-Meal-Movie

Posted Feb 12, 08 2:55 PM CST in Technology 

(Newser) – As if cell phones weren’t distracting enough, car manufacturers are clogging dashboards with enough gadgets to ensure drivers' attention is on anything but the road, the New York Times reports. With driver distraction figuring in 80% of crashes, front-seat DVD players and the like enrage safety advocates. “You’re looking at a situation that could rival drunk driving,” said one expert.

In some places, laws are in the works to ban front-seat distractions, just as many states have outlawed drivers from talking on cell phones. But Detroit is relentlessly pursuing new additions to what some call mobile “family rooms.” “It has to bring you gratification,” said Chrysler’s chairman. “It’s incidental that it gets you from Point A to Point B, right?”

Source New York Times

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The interior of the Novanta concept car featuring "drive-by-wire" technology designed by SKF is shown in Plymouth, Michigan, October 27, 2005. Drive-by-wire means employing electronics, rather than me   (KRT Photos)
Technology, like this dashboard-mounted laptop, is becoming a real risk on the road.   (KRT Photos)
New devices let drivers surf the internet, give them directions, and even tell them where the nearest Chinese place is. But shouldn't they be driving instead?   (KRT Photos)
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car  • drunk driving  • gadget  • car safety


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