Ford: Study finds using SYNC reduces driving distractions

Ford said today that a new study shows that its SYNC hands-free system reduces the level of driving distractions when a drive attempts to select a phone number or choose a song to play from their playlist.
The research conducted by Ford itself found that on average a driver takes his/her eyes off the road for 25 seconds when selecting a song from their MP3 player compared to 2 seconds while using SYNC.
Ford recently conducted the study with 25 regular SYNC users to compare driver performance when using SYNC.
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downtoearth - 2/6/2009 12:05:28 PM

0 Boost

The study could also measure how much longer it takes to perform a certain action when the "smart" manufacturer decided to ditch "one button for every function" approach dumbasses so often criticize for the "let's hide everything in a computer-style menus and submenus" method. Think iDrive or MMI. Because when I drive, I no longer need to pay attention. I need to explore a submenu of a submenu of the "climate control" menu. Not using a touchscreen obviously but with some sort of mouse-alike controller so that it would distract me for even longer.

inspirion7 - 2/6/2009 1:04:28 PM

0 Boost

why would you use the menu for climate control while driving anyway? The basic controls are designed to be used easily. Other menus should be programmed before anyone drives.

StickShiftCamry - 2/6/2009 12:51:32 PM

+1 Boost

I like the SYNC system. I used it in a Taurus I rented, but I almost crashed the car when the female voice started reading my text messages over the car speakers after I linked my bluetooth phone and someone sent me a text message. She knows "LOL" is laughing out loud.

ThierryHenry14 - 2/6/2009 5:20:27 PM

-1 Boost

Not for nothing, but don't you think that the study may be just a tad bit bias and aimed at selling the technology (as well as the car that it comes in)?