|
Ford SYNC’s Voice Technology helps
Drivers keep Eyes on the Road
A new Virginia Tech Transportation
Institute (VTTI) study lends further
evidence that voice-controlled Ford
SYNC® helps drivers minimize
electronics-related visual distractions
compared to manually operating hand-held
cell phones and music.
 The
study by VTTI released on April 15 in
Detroit at the Society of Automotive
Engineers (SAE) World Congress during a
panel discussion titled “Human Factors
in Driving and Automotive Telematics”
supports the Institute’s growing body of
research on driver distraction and as
well as a similar Ford study in 2009.
In the new Ford-commissioned VTTI study,
21 drivers – age 19 to 51 who were
familiar with SYNC – drove a Ford
vehicle with SYNC while initiating a
call, selecting music tracks and having
phone conversations using the
hands-free, voice controlled system. For
the purpose of comparison, the
participants also completed the same
tasks manually using their own mobile
phones and portable music players in the
same vehicle.
The study concluded that drivers were
able to dial and complete other tasks
more quickly and with less time
eyes-off-road time when using SYNC. At
the same time, drivers manually
operating phones and digital music
players steered more erratically and
looked away from the roadway for longer
periods of time.
“This study suggests that keeping
drivers’ eyes on the road as much as
possible is important for maintaining
safe vehicle control, which is in line
with recent naturalistic driving
research,” said Shane McLaughlin,
Research Scientist, Center for
Automotive Safety Research, Virginia
Tech Transportation Institute.
When study participants initiated a
call, hand-held operation required more
than 2.5 times as many glances away from
the road and more than 4 times longer in
total eyes-off-road time than when
drivers used SYNC. For MP3 player song
selection, hand-held operation required
more than 6 times as many task-related
glances than SYNC, and took more than 10
times longer in total eyes-off-road
time.
“We know that people are going to have
phone conversations and listen to music
while they drive, and this research
backs up what most of us instinctively
know – that while driving, it is better
to place a call or select a song using a
voice interface instead of doing it
manually,” said Sue Cischke, Ford group
vice president of Sustainability,
Environment and Safety Engineering.
VTTI’s new study is consistent with the
groundbreaking “100-Car Naturalistic
Driving Study”, completed in 2005 for
the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The study followed 109 drivers for one
year and tracked more than 42,300 hours
of driving data collected with over 2
million miles driven.
In Oman, SYNC is available in all new
Ford Taurus, a 3.5L V-6 large car
launched recently, Ford Flex, Ford
Explorer Eddie Bauer, Expedition EB,
Ford F-150 and Lincoln MKS models.
Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles are
marketed in the Sultanate by Arabian Car
Marketing, a part of the renowned Saud
Bahwan Group, with Service and Parts
network that stretches across the
Sultanate, over 98% parts availability -
and Ford Privilege Card – which provides
24 hours On-road assistance from AAA,
Oman’s premier On-road Assistance
Service Providers. For more information
and latest offers from Ford, logon to
www.fordoman.com
|
