Here's why too much on-board car technology may make vehicles unsafe

Vehicles today come loaded with features in the on-board infotainment system and drivers behind the wheels have easy access to all these features, which implies that they can get easily distracted. While driving, the person behind the wheel could be scrolling through the Spotify app to pick the perfect album for the trip or could be answering an incoming call or text.

While they pick an album or answer a call, they could easily get carried away and not fully concentrate on the road, possibly drifting closer to the edge of the lane. They might also miss looking out for pedestrians, cyclists and other vehicles as their attention gets divided between the road and the on-board features.

And if that's not enough, automakers have only been cramming in more and more complex features on-board, facilitating drivers' distraction by overloading their brains with information and entertainment when they should be concentrating on the road to avoid any mishaps, some safety experts believe. "This is a major and an increasing issue," Ian Jack, head of public affairs at the Canadian Automobile Association, told The Canadian Press.

The association is planning to launch a campaign to warn people about distracted driving. “It’s becoming increasingly challenging for people to manage these things inside their vehicle," Jack added. Independent studies have shown that even simple activities like eating or talking to a co-passenger can also distract drivers enough to hamper their ability to respond to emergency situations.

Recently, Tesla agreed to prevent drivers from playing video games on the console while the car is in motion after the US traffic safety regulators opened a probe into the matter. The agency said that the option to engage ‘Passenger Play’ on the main display during driving made drivers susceptible to distraction and raised the risks of an accident.

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