Connect With Us on Twitter
For Op-Ed, follow @nytopinion and to hear from the editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, follow @andyrNYT.
Re "Hands-Free Distractions" (editorial, June 24):
It's wishful thinking for you to suggest that we can simply legislate away the public's desire to be connected. Consumers insist on connectivity; if they can't communicate hands-free, they will with a hand-held device. That's why automakers have developed technology providing motorists with the connectivity they demand while still allowing them to keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.
There are three types of distraction: manual distraction, which takes hands off the wheel; visual distraction, which pulls eyes from the road; and cognitive distraction, which take minds off the driving task. Most existing research, including studies sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, suggests that manual and visual distractions are by far the most dangerous of the three.
Because the AAA study that you cite focused exclusively on cognitive distraction, it is misleading to draw conclusions, as your editorial does, about the overall safety of hands-free systems versus hand-held devices. In fact, the AAA study itself specifically states, "As of yet, there is not a comprehensive mapping of cognitive distraction to on-road crash risk."
Automakers design vehicles to help drivers safely operate their car or truck. The consequences of driving while attempting to manipulate the keys of a hand-held phone can be deadly. To N.H.T.S.A.'s great credit, the safety agency recognizes this reality and stipulates that public policy and business practice should turn behavior away from hand-held cellphones and to hands-free, voice-driven systems.
MITCH BAINWOL
President and Chief Executive
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
Washington, June 28, 2013
To the Editor:
Your editorial missed the mark in arguing for state bans on nonemergency use of all communications devices in cars, citing a new AAA-sponsored study, "Measuring Cognitive Distractions."
The Consumer Electronics Association shares AAA's interest in preventing distracted driving, and supports state bans on texting while driving. However, this new study's findings hardly reflect science settled enough to warrant such a blanket ban. The scope of the study was narrow, examining a few dozen participants between ages 18 and 36, with an average age of 23.
In addition, it directly contradicts other research on visual and manual distraction that has found that drivers who use integrated hands-free technology are not at increased risk.
Instead of a blanket ban based on unsettled science, The Times should support innovations that maximize safety while enabling the reasonable use of electronics in cars.
GARY SHAPIRO
President and Chief Executive
Consumer Electronics Association
Arlington, Va., July 1, 2013
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Letters: Using Hands-Free Devices to Chat and Drive
Dengan url
http://opinimasyarakota.blogspot.com/2013/07/letters-using-hands-free-devices-to.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Letters: Using Hands-Free Devices to Chat and Drive
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Letters: Using Hands-Free Devices to Chat and Drive
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar