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In-Vehicle Technologies: Experience & Research

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 This page is devoted to discussions regarding specific in-vehicle technologies: cell phones, navigation systems, night vision systems, wireless Internet, and information and entertainment systems, among others. The purpose is to provide an avenue for drivers to share their experiences with, and impressions of these technologies so that benefits of these systems can be realized without causing unsafe driver distraction. Although specific in-vehicle devices are emphasized here, comment and discussion relevant to other non-technological or conventional sources of distraction are also welcome. Be sure to take or view results of our informal polls.

Please tell us about your experience with these technologies…

 

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Cell Phones
             310comments   4    2   6   
Navigation Systems
             43comments   1    2   3   
Night Vision Systems
             22comments   
Wireless Internet (E-mail)
             29comments   2   
Information & Entertainment Systems
             23comments   
Other
            
comments   To My Kids   7/5/00 12:46:08 PM

comments   Kids, etc.   7/9/00 8:13:29 PM

comments   Children may be the root of All Evil   7/14/00 7:10:42 AM

comments   Left lane slow drivers   7/14/00 7:20:06 AM

comments   How do you know they are slow in the left lane??   7/14/00 5:42:15 PM

comments   Women and mirrors   7/14/00 5:45:30 PM

comments   Bright Running Lights   7/14/00 9:12:04 PM

comments   Question those statistics!   7/14/00 11:12:07 PM

comments   people overly distracted by their children    7/15/00 1:00:36 AM

comments   Your speedometer is an indicator of your speed.   7/15/00 4:01:02 AM

comments   Kids not necessarily the root of All Evil   7/15/00 4:15:37 AM

comments   Is it just me, or what?   7/15/00 4:21:16 AM

comments   If it's illegal to have a TV within view of the driver, why should cell-phones be any different?   7/15/00 11:33:58 AM

comments   The Speed Limit is slow in the left lane   7/15/00 12:17:09 PM

comments   Daytime running lights   7/15/00 5:05:19 PM

comments   Billboards, mobile billboards, and "autowraps" and other advertising   7/16/00 12:08:51 PM

comments   OUTDOOR ELECTRONIC ADVERTISING   7/17/00 5:44:03 PM

comments   Not Just Electronic Equipment!   7/18/00 3:05:19 PM

comments   Vacant and Careless Drivers   7/18/00 5:39:31 PM

comments   Billboards are intended to be distracting.   7/18/00 8:02:56 PM

comments   saab night panel (illumination)   7/18/00 8:48:57 PM

comments   Personal grooming   7/18/00 11:40:00 PM

comments   Electronic advertising in Portland, Oregon   7/18/00 11:50:47 PM

comments   Bright lights day and night, a.k.a., DRLs, "highway lights", brights, etc.   7/19/00 6:29:48 AM

comments   Driver Fatigue biggest problem on the roads   7/19/00 6:37:29 AM

comments   Sign of the Times-Live With It   7/19/00 8:23:23 PM

comments   Develop a driver alarm system to warn of pedestrians/bicycles also using roadway nearby   7/19/00 10:16:40 PM

comments   READING BOOKS AND NEWSPAPERS!   7/20/00 11:01:56 AM

comments   It's what you make as your main focus that is important; distractions are nothing new   7/20/00 3:44:44 PM

comments   It's called the PASSING lane for a reason   7/23/00 2:00:55 PM

comments   Slow in left lane   7/23/00 2:06:50 PM

comments   Daytime running lights   7/23/00 2:20:39 PM

comments   WHY IS THE NHSTA TAKING SO LONG?   7/25/00 11:02:45 AM

comments   Daytime Running Lights   7/26/00 7:16:46 AM

comments   I HATE DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS   7/26/00 7:56:15 AM

comments   Daytime Running Lights are the worst hazard on the road   7/26/00 8:11:50 AM

comments   Who initiated Daytime running lights?   7/27/00 3:32:04 AM

comments   Lights on during the day very disturbing   7/27/00 11:34:41 AM

comments   why is the nhsta taking so long?   7/27/00 11:38:34 AM

comments   Too many big trucks   7/27/00 3:01:24 PM

comments   Question your own ethics   7/27/00 3:35:48 PM

comments   Yeah, right   7/27/00 3:45:24 PM

comments   America home of the stupid laws!   7/29/00 9:08:11 AM

comments   Who pushed Canada    7/29/00 10:18:40 PM

comments   DRLs = Biggest Classaction Lawsuit Coming in History   7/30/00 12:58:36 PM

comments   Who pushed Canada?   7/30/00 11:17:56 PM

comments   DRLs - A Different Perspective   7/31/00 12:18:14 AM

comments   DRLs Indeed are a hazard   7/31/00 9:52:31 AM

comments   Indiana Tri-Level Study of Traffic Accident Causation   8/1/00 7:11:46 AM

comments   READING BOOKS AND NEWSPAPERS!   8/1/00 2:13:58 PM

comments   Drivers over 70   8/1/00 8:44:41 PM

comments   RE: Drivers over 70    8/2/00 6:42:04 AM

comments   RE: READING BOOKS AND NEWSPAPERS   8/2/00 7:15:31 AM

comments   NHTSA activities re DRLs   8/2/00 10:45:37 AM

comments   Agree, plus target young driver as well   8/2/00 7:46:35 PM

comments   Kids too young?   8/3/00 1:01:03 AM

comments   Re; Drivers over 70   8/3/00 8:57:16 AM

comments   HELP ME SOMEONE!!! DRL's Are Out of Control!   8/3/00 10:27:48 AM

comments   For the MANY who find DRLs DANGEROUS please visit www.lightsout.org   8/3/00 12:23:45 PM

comments   DRLs & "In Your Face" Drivers   8/3/00 4:53:25 PM

comments   DAYTIME HEADLIGHTS ARE THE WORST DISTRACTION   8/3/00 9:50:18 PM

comments   DRLs from a motorcyclist point of view   8/4/00 7:55:16 AM

comments   Agree - Left Lane Bandits started road rage!   8/4/00 8:03:05 AM

comments   DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS (DRL'S)   8/4/00 8:08:02 AM

comments   Daytime Running Lights - WHY?   8/4/00 8:28:27 AM

comments   live with it?   8/4/00 12:14:09 PM

comments   Running lights from the rear.   8/4/00 12:32:10 PM

comments   Please! Give us some relief from DRLs!   8/4/00 5:49:55 PM

comments   DRLs are a stupid idea.   8/4/00 6:57:08 PM

comments   DRLs and risk to motorcyclists   8/4/00 11:03:22 PM

comments   Why does GM get away with it?   8/5/00 2:28:22 PM

comments   Big Trucks On The Interstate   8/5/00 2:33:57 PM

comments   DRL causes driver distractions on roadways   8/7/00 1:42:15 PM

comments   Sign of the Times--Live With It   8/8/00 10:53:26 AM

comments   Yes, but...   8/8/00 10:31:05 PM

comments   DRLs, headlights, and highway lights using high powered, focused beams   8/9/00 6:12:21 AM

comments   NHTSA- -Preliminary Assessment- - - -DRLs   8/9/00 12:24:19 PM

comments   Headlight glare getting out of control   8/9/00 9:31:53 PM

comments   DRLs in accident reports?   8/10/00 11:54:59 AM

comments   Ban DRL's - the NHSTA Should Be Ashamed   8/10/00 4:12:38 PM

comments   Effectiveness of DRL in Canada   8/11/00 9:15:32 AM
Deborah   Collard
Government

Hello everyone. I’ve read with great interest the posts in this forum, particularly the ones pertaining to DRL. For the record, here is a summary of the Canadian research that was done by the Road Safety and Motor Vehicle Regulation Directorate (Transport Canada) Working Group on the effectiveness of the Canadian DRL regulation in reducing daytime two-vehicle different-direction (i.e. "target") collisions involving light-duty vehicles (cars, light trucks and vans). It is not practical in a forum such as this to explain fully the method we used, but the basic logic of the research design was to compare target collision involvement for models fitted and not fitted with DRL: 1991s with 1990s (both models fitted with DRL); 1990 with 1989 (one fitted, one not fitted) and 1989 with 1988 (neither model fitted). If DRL were effective, there should be: (1) a reduction in target collisions for 1990 (DRL-fitted) models relative to 1989 (non-DRL-fitted) models; and (2) only those. Equivalent comparisons between two non-DRL-fitted models and two fitted models should yield ratios of about 1 (if DRL is the key) since neither model in those pairs differs with respect to DRL fitment. As predicted, the analysis did demonstrate a proportional reduction in target collisions for the DRL-fitted vehicles, calculated to be 8.3% (statistically significant at .05) for 1990 models relative to 1989 models - and only those. Supplementary analyses, for 1990 models versus 1988s; and 1990s versus 1987s (again, the key difference being that of DRL fitment) yielded similar (and significant) reductions for the DRL fitted vehicles. Moreover, an analysis of all equivalent model-year pairs in all eight years yielded no differences. As the extended analysis showed, when the definition of "daylight" conditions was restricted only to dawn/dusk, a (statistically significant) 16.6% reduction was observed for target collisions for the DRL-fitted vehicles. A very valid question has been raised in this forum regarding the measurement of "only" DRL fitted vehicles - that the reductions reported for DRL-fitted vehicles may be artifacts of (or offset by) a possible increase in collisions for non-fitted vehicles. This is a question the team considered at the time of the research (and is in fact "built in" to the ratio of odds ratios method) and I am able to report that this simply did not happen, as an examination of the absolute numbers (along with the relative ones) showed. Information on the effectiveness of daytime running lights in Canada is available in publications TP 12298 (70-page report) or Leaflet # CL 9805 (5-page summary which includes the findings of the analysis of DRL by angle of collision and light condition) . Both are obtainable by calling Transport Canada (1-800-333-0371) or by emailing RoadSafetyWebMail@tc.gc.ca.


comments   Police officers should not be exempt from any new regulation   8/11/00 10:03:49 AM

comments   Response to Transport Canada posting re DRLs   8/11/00 3:25:31 PM

comments   DRL, OTHER CONSIDERATIONS   8/11/00 4:03:20 PM

comments   DRLs a menace and anyone who believes they are not is very misguided   8/11/00 4:08:42 PM

comments   Very Informative Posts Regarding DRLS   8/11/00 4:34:40 PM

comments   Transport Canada rebuttal   8/11/00 4:56:14 PM

comments   Keep Your Stupid Drls in Canada Then   8/11/00 5:38:36 PM

comments   It's the GLARE   8/11/00 6:51:18 PM

comments   SLOW DOWN, REDUCE FUEL CONSUMPTION & POLLUTION, INCREASE SAFETY   8/12/00 12:44:40 AM

comments   DRLs Damaged My Eyes    8/13/00 4:00:40 PM

comments   Just found - If Not Too Late - please submit comment re strong disapproval of drls   8/13/00 5:58:58 PM