New warning on infotainment screen distraction

In-car touch screens are extremely detrimental to driver attention according to new research carried out for Trygg Trafikk (the Norwegian Council for Road Safety), an ETSC member.  

The research report, carried out by SINTEF in collaboration with Nord University on behalf of Trygg Trafikk and the insurance company Fremtind, shows how long it takes to perform various functions on the touchscreen while driving.  

The study was conducted with 44 people who performed various tasks on a touch screen while driving a typical family car, a Peugeot 5008. Using a gaze point camera, the researchers were able to track how drivers divided their attention between the screen and driving. Among the tasks to be completed were adjusting the temperature, searching for music and a radio channel and entering an address in the navigation system.  

Entering an address was the most demanding task. The task requires the drivers to look at the screen for an average of 15.7 seconds in total in order to complete the typing of the address. 

Selecting music or changing the radio channel was a little faster. Here, the drivers looked at the touch screen for an average of 10-11 seconds. The task taking up the least time was  adjusting the temperature – but that still required an average of 3.4 seconds on the touch screen.  

According to the researchers, even the most short-term tasks can be too time-consuming – from a traffic safety perspective.  

They calculate that if you drive at 22 km/h in the city while typing in an address, you have in practice driven 12 meters blind. If you control the music for just 2 seconds while driving at 63 km/h, you have driven more than 30 meters blind. 
Earlier this year, the car safety testing organisation Euro NCAP said carmakers will need to bring back buttons for new car models tested from 2026 onwards if they want to achieve the maximum five-star rating.