Two and a half years into the crusade against distracted driving, automakers are equipping vehicles with new technology that might circumvent the 34 state laws that prohibit text messaging behind the wheel, which 95 percent of Americans say is dangerous.
The manufacturers say the new hands-free text-messaging systems will reduce the risk of distraction.
Safety advocates aren't so sure. And experts say it will require careful analysis to determine whether laws that ban drivers from sending and receiving text messages will apply to hands-free methods.
Vehicles are being transformed into mobile communications centers, with cell phones, DVD players, access to Facebook and Twitter, Global Positioning System devices and satellite radio.
"Unfortunately, drivers are being encouraged to do everything but drive," said Jonathan Adkins, spokes-man for the Governors Highway Safety Association. "It's a sign of the pressures of modern-day life to do 10 things at once. However, driving is a complex task, and our message continues to be that a singular focus is needed."
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The latest wrinkle is an advancement in Ford's voice-activated Sync system, which is standard in most of the company's 2012 models. Now, using a Bluetooth wireless connection with a cell phone, the vehicles can read text messages aloud. The driver can tap a touch screen to send one of 15 preset responses, including "I'm running a few minutes late," "I can't talk right now" and "I'm on my way."
BMW offers a similar system. Vehicles with General Motors' OnStar will read text messages and Facebook statuses to the user and transcribe spoken messages into text or Facebook messages.
The demand for all this comes, in part, because the amount of time Americans spend stuck in traffic has more than doubled since 1982, to an average of 34 hours a year. The Texas Transportation Institute determined that drivers in the Washington area have it worst, with an average of 74 hours lost in traffic each year.
Wade Newton of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers says carmakers are trying to respond with the safest possible technology.
"When a motorist is driving down the road and a cell phone rings and they answer it, they're giving us a message that that's important to them," Newton said.
Many automakers have integrated buttons that once were elsewhere, radio and cruise controls, for example, into the steering wheel in hopes of keeping drivers' hands there.
"What a text message is and what's hands-free is always subject to debate," Newton said. "They're tough questions, and that's why I think you're seeing automakers move to this integrated system that helps a driver do this safely."
