Car Connectivity

More and more cars are coming out that permit people to be connected to the Internet from the front seat via Wi-Fi or 3G networks.  The Ford Edge, Lincoln MKX, and Audi A6 are all examples of this. With these connections individuals will be able to stream videos, get up-to-the-minute traffic information, as well as speak their text messages. These things all sound good, and we generally welcome technological advancements with open arms but this make us ask the question: Is full connectivity in a moving vehicle the best thing?

Challenges of the Connected Car

Drivers get distracted and this may result in accidents. In fact, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports 80 percent of all accidents involve driver inattention within 3 seconds of the accident. So, this being true, consider how distracted the driver would be if there is an interesting YouTube video playing on an in-car screen.

Does Tech Distract Drivers?

Anything that takes a driver’s attention from the road could be a threat. Whether it’s texting, making calls, or merely having a friend in the car. Many states have made it unlawful to text while driving for this reason. This is the major reason why the news that cars are coming out with 3G connections doesn’t make everyone jump for joy.

Browsing the Web Inside Your Car

Regardless of how we feel about it, unless laws are put into place preventing it, people will soon have the capacity to stream YouTube videos, Google an answer to a question, and correspond via social media sites within their cars. Maybe the next step ought to be to improve self-driving aspects to cars; but perhapsthat would remove us even more to the world around us.

As we said before, enhancements in technology ordinarily have us excited. But the biggest anxiety about the connected car is that, will raising the amount of distractions increase the number of accidents? Car connectivity brings lots of enjoyment to travelers, particularly on long commutes, but it’s important that drivers recognize the need to stay focused on the road no matter how cute that video of a baby monkey is.