Safety Group Wants Automakers to Steer Clear of Hands-Free Devices

Sync, developed with Microsoft software, is to be in 12 Ford models this year. It is being billed by the world's third-largest automaker as a "voice-activated, hands-free, in-car communications and entertainment system."

The system lets drivers use voice commands or steering wheel or radio controls to talk or dial the phone and set music players. "These functions help people to not fiddle with their iPod [while driving] and not put their heads down" to dial the phone, Twork said.

Cristi Chojnacki, spokeswoman for OnStar by GM, a subsidiary of the world's largest automaker, agreed. "All of our services are focused on hands on the wheel, eyes on the road," she said.

The service, which was originally promoted as a way to help drivers in emergencies, has 5 million subscribers and is to be available in all GM vehicles by the end of the year, Chojnacki said.

OnStar can diagnose mechanical problems and provide weather, traffic and stock updates on request. It also has a navigation system that gives drivers verbal directions, turn by turn.

Researcher David Strayer, professor of psychology at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and an expert in driver distraction, said the technology is advancing faster than regulators or the safety community can act.

Therefore, Strayer said, NHTSA should hold the makers of in-car wireless systems to the same standard the Food and Drug Administration demands of pharmaceutical companies. That is, automakers should have to test and prove their devices are safe before marketing them.

Insurance officials say they like the safety features that OnStar, Sync and other packages provide. They express less confidence in the prospect of drivers having more ways to entertain themselves while on the go.

Anne McCartt, senior vice president for research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in Arlington said the idea of added competition for a driver's attention bothers her "because we view distracted driving as a growing and significant risk factor."

She said she hopes government regulation "will encourage good technology but discourage use of it under the wrong circumstances."

David Snyder, vice president and assistant general counsel for the American Insurance Association, a District-based group representing 400 property and casualty insurers, called the expansion of in-car technology "a pretty worrisome direction." Even using a hands-free phone is risky, Snyder said.

"I don't think we want a roadway filled with people text-messaging and e-mailing," he said.

Cindy Skrzycki is a regulatory columnist for Bloomberg News. She can be reached atcskrzycki@bloomberg.net.