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Electronics Group to Work on Standards to Boost Driver Safety

Calling a recent AAA study on distracted driving flawed, the Consumer Electronics Association has formed a working group to develop standards for electronic devices used in cars to maximize driver safety.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is forming a group to develop industry standards or best practices for designing electronics to help maximize driver safety.

We believe that safety is paramount in a moving vehicle. A driver’s highest priority should be safe driving and control of the vehicle at all times.

“We believe that safety is paramount in a moving vehicle. A driver’s highest priority should be safe driving and control of the vehicle at all times,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA, in a statement. “Consumer electronics manufacturers have developed products like GPS and hands-free Bluetooth that reduce the amount of time a driver must look away from the road. It makes sense to encourage development of these technologies rather than to try to regulate every possible distraction.”

The CEA’s Portable Handheld and In-Vehicle Electronics Committee approved creation of the Driver Device Interface Working Group. The move appears to come in response to a recent AAA study that found hands-free phone systems can distract drivers about as much as talking on a handheld cell phone and that hands-free talk-to-text systems can be more distracting than both.

“CEA welcomes all research on how to increase roadway safety and shares AAA’s interest in preventing distracted driving,” Shapiro said in a statement to Forbes. “However, we believe this AAA-sponsored study suffers from a number of methodology flaws, and, as a result, its broad conclusions about voice-to-text technology should be questioned.”

Daniel Ford

By Daniel Ford

Daniel Ford is a contributor to Associations Now. MORE

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