Welcome to BrainStuff, from How Stuff Works.

Hey Brain Stuff, Lauren Volkobom here.

As some automotive safety experts have long suspected,

recent studies show that the more technology

we have in our cars, the worse we drive, and that includes cars infotainment

systems and active safety systems. The American Automobile Association, or AAA, sponsored a study that confirms

how distracted drivers get. The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Utah and released

in October of 2017. It rated 30 different vehicles

infotainment systems on their potential to distract drivers. The study found

that navigation systems were the most demanding distractions and that tuning the radio and

programming the navigation took driver's eyes off the road longer than

making a phone call or texting. But overall all infotainment tasks, calling or

dialing, texting, tuning the radio or programming the

navigation were associated with higher levels of cognitive demand.

The AAA research supports the findings of a University of Michigan study released last summer.

This study, sponsored by an automaker, was designed to find out how drivers were using the

automaker's blind spot warning system.

Overwhelmingly, the researchers found people driving cars with blind spot detection systems

tended to change lanes without ever checking for traffic on their own.

These two studies identify two main problems.

First, that using some safety technology distract drivers more.

And second, that drivers use safety systems as a primary source of input

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