Utterly irresponsible technology

I have a simple rule when it comes to what's OK to do while driving: If you wouldn't want your surgeon doing it while operating on your brain, don't do it behind the wheel.

Period.

That's why I'm appalled at Pioneer's announcement of a dashboard system that keeps drivers connected to social networks and local searches while they're driving. The new in-dash systems can connect to a smartphone so that you're not without Facebook, Twitter and Yelp, according to the company's announcement at CES. After all, how could you possibly manage to be offline during the time you're driving a vehicle? Even if by being distracted, you're at greater risk of causing an accident.

Driving may not be as difficult as brain surgery, but the two activities do have some things in common. Both require concentration to be done well. And even a split-second of distraction can seriously injure or kill.

Talking on the phone is bad enough, even hands-free. A University of Utah study showed that drivers chatting on cell phones are as impaired as if they were driving drunk. They were 9% slower to hit the brakes when necessary compared with non-distracted subjects and "displayed 24% more variation in following distance as their attention switched between driving and conversing."

Now imagine people listening to their friends' Facebook updates, or colleagues' tweets, with a big touchscreen display at their fingertips. Worried yet?

We're having a hard enough time getting people to stop texting behind the wheel. Do we really need to add this kind of temptation?

The claim is that by offering a larger in-dash touchscreen with voice control that's "specifically designed for the automotive environment," it's less distracting than trying to look at a smaller phone screen while driving. R-i-i-i-i-ght.

Answer me honestly that you wouldn't mind if the surgeon operating on your brain, or repairing your child's rare heart defect, or aiming the radiation beam at a loved one's tumor, had this kind of technology in the OR, and then I'll listen to arguments about why this isn't a problem.

Personally, I don't want the driver who's controlling a few thousand pounds of machinery hurtling toward me to be distracted by a computer voice reading off latest Facebook updates from their friends. Do you?

Sharon Machlis is online managing editor at Computerworld. Her e-mail address is smachlis@computerworld.com. You can follow her on Twitter @sharon000, on Facebook or by subscribing to her RSS feeds:
articles | blogs .