Focusing on distraction

An explosion of new features, functions poses challenges for safety.

Cell phones have become the poster child of the debate over distracted drivers, but many observers predict that the plethora of consumer products such as MP3 players will prove equally distracting for drivers. Engineers and other researchers who don't want to be on the roads with these distracted drivers are doing plenty of research to devise user interfaces that let people control many products with a minimum of distraction.

With so much electronic equipment in high-end vehicles today, some drivers complain that their cabins have as many switches as an aircraft cockpit. That's prompted a huge effort to devise human-machine interfaces (HMIs) that make it easy for drivers to control many functions without losing track of their primary job: controlling the vehicle.