Researchers from the University of Utah steered a study for the AAA Traffic Safety Foundation regarding cars and voice management systems. In this study, they found out that Google Voice, Siri and Cortana are very distracting features for drivers on the road.
A lot of drivers would think that it is safer to have autonomous driving or auto navigation or voice command luxuries in a car would be very comfortable when traveling. Having Siri, Google Voice or Cortana aboard a car following voice instructions to play music or ask for the nearest gasoline station would be quite a comfort.
The University of Utah has conducted a research for the AAA Traffic Safety Foundation with regard to this technology on cars. The researchers who happened also to be psychologists of the said school found the hands-free tech very sidetracking, prone to errors and oftentimes annoying.
The test is conducted to assess driving behaviors while using voice commands. One team examined how drivers can get unfocused while using this type of system, and another team tested 10 gadgets used in a car with voice commands. More than 300 people were asked to drive around Salt Lake City using this kind of technology while the psychologists were conducting with the drivers and the tech on board the car. The drivers were asked to use a series of voice commands while driving either it be auto-navigating, playing music, sending voice messages or making calls through voice tech systems.
To no surprise, a driver interacting with a screen while traveling could be very distracting. The shocking revelation is that how it showed distractions as drivers more than likely took 27 seconds interacting with voice management before they start paying attention to where they are driving.
Google Voice systems did a lot better as it was less distracting compared to Siri and Cortana. But to conclude, each voice systems had their own distraction levels, and the researchers have it in proof that such technology needs to be further developed as they would cause accidents rather than driver and passenger safety. However, it does not mean that such technology would not progress. Rather, it is in the early stages and drivers should be cautious enough when using them.
