“All 30 of the 2017 model year cars and light trucks took their eyes off the road and hands off the wheel while using infotainment systems.”

Every year car manufacturers need to come up with redesigns and tweaks for their vehicles.  This is especially true for a manufacturer’s flagship vehicle. A new trend that manufacturers have been doing to refresh their cars is to redesign the appearance of their cars.  This redesign happens to both the car’s exterior as well as interior. A new danger to drivers that is brewing inside the car’s interior is a car’s infotainment system. An infotainment system is a standard for new cars and controls everything from the air conditioning/heat, to mapping directions for you. The infotainment system is situated in the center console of the car and is always an electronic screen, similar to that of tablets. Some cars control the infotainment system with touch screens exclusively, some use a wheel/ peripheral only, and some cars use a combination of both. The infotainment system has replaced the traditional climate controls, radio buttons, and the other various controls that used to be physical buttons.

These features result in what an AAA (American Automobile Association) study says “drivers taking their eyes off the road and hands off the wheel for dangerously long periods of time”. Due to automakers need for constant modification these infotainment systems are becoming crammed with more and more data and keeping driver’s focus off of the road. According to the study, “all 30 of the 2017 model year cars and light trucks took their eyes off the road and hands off the wheel while using infotainment systems.” The study also rated more than 75% of the thirty 2017 model year cars as “very high” or “high” for driver distraction. The AAA recommends that drivers use infotainment systems for emergencies only.