Google’s New In Car Interface News Part II

Governments, all over the US are mainly trying to fight distracted driving with well laid out laws banning handset use or texting while operating a vehicle. So far, I would have to say that no one is paying attention to them. You can outlaw candy but we must know as a society that in no way will that stop the partaking of such things. Reaching out to students in High School by providing live results of car collisions i.e. totaled vehicles, has also not made a dent in accident rates. People believe that accidents happen to others and appear to not be phased by the horrific examples given. Google is taking an approach that may put a dent in flawed humans driving habits. This is where the hard-wired connection comes into play. The idea is that the phone is leashed to the center console where the car takes control of the phones functions. It essentially takes the phone out of the driver’s hands by locking the screen. It’s widely understood that this won’t eliminate 100% of the driver’s ability to be distracted. Unsafe decisions are just that, unsafe decisions. Hopefully, if the driver can get all of its capabilities by plugging in, they will be less distracted. Drivers will be able to listen to their music, perform messaging capabilities and safely access information services such as maps with directions. Android Auto, unveiled last week at Google’s annual developer conference in San Francisco, is the first product of the Open Automotive Alliance, a consortium that includes Audi, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Google and chipmaker NVIDIA Corp. Google signaled at the conference that it’s trying to find a sweet spot, offering just enough features to persuade drivers to set aside their phones, but not so many that it creates a dangerous new distraction. “Even though it’s unsafe, and in many cases illegal, people use their phones while driving,” Patrick Brady, director of engineering for Android, told software developers. “There’s got to be a better way.”