Study Claims Using CarPlay While Driving is More Dangerous Than Texting

[SteveW928]

How about BMW iDrive, Mercedes MBUX, Lexus’s trackpad, Audi’s touchscreen? Are they just using Apple CarPlay as a clickbait?

I'd like to see Tesla's dashboard screen tested in a similar way.
We need to get back physical dashboards/controls.

 

[rlhamil]

Based on my experience, using Siri via CarPlay can be incredibly frustrating. That's especially the case when trying to listen to a radio station.

For example, if I say, "Listen to <call letters of radio station>", it only works about 30% of the time. Sometimes, it works on the first try, other times, it plays some artist that has two of the radio station's call letters in his name (JD). From time to time, it plays something totally off the wall and I have no idea how it connected the call letters of the radio station that I spoke to what it's playing.

Since I can't see the transcription of what Siri *thought* I said with CarPlay (like I can on iPhone or iPad), I'm not really sure how to compensate for the fact that it didn't do what I wanted. Do I need to annunciate a particular letter more clearly? Do I need to slow down when I'm speaking? I have no idea. Sometimes, I have to repeat the same command five or six times before it finally does what I wanted it to do. Am I distracted during that time because my level of frustration with Siri is growing each time it gets it wrong? Probably.

For some radio stations that are supported by one of their providers, I have to say something with extra information in it, like "play radio station WXYZ 680" (I don't know if there's an actual WXYZ - but I do have to say the frequency as well as the call letters for those where there might be a possibility of confusion. Sometimes, how the station is named on the provider is a clue for what works best - that is, some of them have "names" that are a word for the franchise or format and their frequency, or their call letters and their frequency.

 

[npmacuser5]

This has to be the most non-intuitive findings I have ever seen. I simply can not hold any validity to these findings.

Have you ever been tested, driving school? I did by NASCAR divers and the results were embarrassing. We were so called professional drivers for the amount of company miles we drove. Very real in all aspects. The two second rule very interesting. Takes two seconds to see and respond, eyes to foot fully engaging break peddle. Additionally the hands actually follow the eyes while driving. The eyes to hands how NASCAR divers get out of skids. We were taught to point the nose, eyes, where you want to go and the hands will automatically follow. The end of day, we learned amazing driving skills. The NASCAR drivers said most drivers today are incapable of handling emergency situations because of distracted driving and understanding the cars technology. Made a believer out of me.

 

[I7guy]

I should read the study before offering an opinion, but I won't...
You will not convince me that using your voice to control something is more dangerous than looking down at your lap and texting.

An important benchmark, it seems to me, would be the distraction from interacting with your car's infotainment system, including the navigation. I can fully agree that taking your eyes and mind off the road for a split-second can lead to a catastrophy, but there are safer and less-safer times to interact with these devices. One should be mindful of that.

 

[I7guy]

Have you ever been tested, driving school? I did by NASCAR divers and the results were embarrassing. We were so called professional drivers for the amount of company miles we drove. Very real in all aspects. The two second rule very interesting. Takes two seconds to see and respond, eyes to foot fully engaging break peddle. Additionally the hands actually follow the eyes while driving. The eyes to hands how NASCAR divers get out of skids. We were taught to point the nose, eyes, where you want to go and the hands will automatically follow. The end of day, we learned amazing driving skills. The NASCAR drivers said most drivers today are incapable of handling emergency situations because of distracted driving and understanding the cars technology. Made a believer out of me.

Nobody (at least I'm not) is saying that anything less than full attention to driving is the way to go. However, the horse has already left the barn. It's up to the driver to make it driving as safe as possible, for not only the driver and their passengers, but their fellow drivers.

Saying the carplay is 4% worse than android auto is like saying drinking anti-freeze is 4% more deadly than ingesting arsenic.

 

[npmacuser5]

Nobody (at least I'm not) is saying that anything less than full attention to driving is the way to go. However, the horse has already left the barn. It's up to the driver to make it driving as safe as possible, for not only the driver and their passengers, but their fellow drivers.

Saying the carplay is 4% worse than android auto is like saying drinking anti-freeze is 4% more deadly than ingesting arsenic.

No argument. All devices that require the driver to take eyes off the road directly ahead need to be dimmed while moving.

 

[iLog.Genius]

How about BMW iDrive, Mercedes MBUX, Lexus’s trackpad, Audi’s touchscreen? Are they just using Apple CarPlay as a clickbait?

With those systems, touchscreen is secondary to the control knob (if applicable). Your attention is still slightly swayed from the road, but you are not second guessing your inputs vs. Voice-control which regardless of system, still isn't perfect.

 

[SteveW928]

The NASCAR drivers said most drivers today are incapable of handling emergency situations because of distracted driving and understanding the cars technology. Made a believer out of me.

I've often said that way too many drivers these days are just 'along for the ride.' Regardless of driving skills (which are low in general), they aren't ever trying to improve them, or paying that much attention.

An important benchmark, it seems to me, would be the distraction from interacting with your car's infotainment system, including the navigation. I can fully agree that taking your eyes and mind off the road for a split-second can lead to a catastrophy, but there are safer and less-safer times to interact with these devices. One should be mindful of that.

The thing is, people have been distracted in various ways probably since driving began. When I was younger, we used to eat, talk on 2m 'ham' radios, CBs were common among some, we had radios, tape-players, etc.

When you're distracted, for sure, that time matters. But, what we're facing today is a whole other level of distraction from what I'm talking about above.

I also think the laws are completely screwy. They'll give you a ticket for holding a phone or doing something when at a stop-light, etc. They even are making commercials up here in Canada that seem to focus on that (ie. we've got new tech so it's only a matter of time until we catch you if you're fiddling with your phone at the stop sign).

I mean, if someone is going to do something on their phone, isn't the stop-sign/light the best place? And, why is holding a phone so much more dangerous than holding a cheese-burger or a cup of coffee? I suppose they don't have a good way to differentiate, so it's just low-hanging-fruit type policing. (But, I think it sends the wrong signal... some people seem to believe it's the holding a phone that's an issue, so as long as it's in a holder, etc. then they are OK.)

With those systems, touchscreen is secondary to the control knob (if applicable). Your attention is still slightly swayed from the road, but you are not second guessing your inputs vs. Voice-control which regardless of system, still isn't perfect.

Yes, touchscreen is the problem, which is why cars with touch-screen dashboards is such a bad idea. The visual-spatial focus needed to hit touch-screen targets seems to create a lot more distraction than using some kind of physical control.

I have my iPhone mounted in a holder when I drive, and I have to be super-cautious to do much of anything on it while driving. At the same time, adjusting the physical radio, or the heater, etc. is a bit distracting, but orders of magnitude different. (This post is a bit old, so I don't recall which study this was... but I saw one a year or so ago that really highlighted this problem. I don't recall it having anything to do with Airplay, but addressed touch-screens in cars in general.)