Dialing A Distraction.(J.D. Power and Associates releases its 2001 Automotive Emerging Technologies Study)(Industry Trend or Event)(Brief Article)

Wireless Week, August, 2001

Previous studies may have concluded that driving while talking isn't a major distraction, but J.D. Power and Associates found otherwise. Its 2001 Automotive Emerging Technologies Study, which polled nearly 13,000 consumers who purchased or leased a new car, found that 64 percent consider dialing a phone as the top item on a list of nine "very distracting" situations.

Thirty-nine percent said viewing a navigation system was the most distracting, followed by 31 percent who listed looking at e-mail notifications. Hands-free kits don't seem to help either. Thirty percent listed them as the top distraction while driving.