A new study from Frost & Sullivan reveals that drivers are willing to pay more to get a vehicle loaded with infotainment options than one filled with safety features. According to Frost & Sullivan Automotive Industry Research Analyst Prana Tharthiharan Natarajan, “technologies such as Wi-Fi hotspots in cars, steering wheel controls and advanced voice interfaces are expected to be much more popular than safety functionalities in North America.”
The problem with this line of thinking, as Natarajan points out, is that the very infotainment technologies drivers pine for, are the ones that are more likely to lead to distracted driving. Meanwhile, those lame safety features, are the kind that can help save a driver’s or passenger’s life if they get into an accident while playing with their car’s sweet touch screen.
To be sure, these kinds of safety features aren’t just old-fashioned seat belts and fire walls. The safety features Frost & Sullivan’s study focuses on include active safety technologies that can monitor how a vehicle is being driven and intervene when they detect a potential hazard.
Automakers aren’t exactly resting on their laurels when it comes to preventing distracted driving, however. Each of the major vehicle manufacturers has worked hard to ensure that their infotainment systems are less don’t require a driver’s eyes to leave the road for more than a few seconds. That’s why your car’s touch screen uses such a large font and why you can only access a certain number of on-screen options at once.
via: Frost & Sullivan