SAE Teams With ITS America and AAM on Driver Distraction Problem

    WARRENDALE, Pa., May 9 The Society of Automotive Engineers
(SAE International) is teaming with the Intelligent Transportation Society
(ITS) of America and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM), along
with major automotive OEMs and suppliers, to develop recommendations on the
driver distraction problem developing within the automotive industry.

    In testimony before the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, Dr.
Harold W. Worrall, chairman of the board of directors of ITS America, stated
that ITS America has created a task force, that includes SAE and AAM, to
explore voluntary industry guidelines on the design, integration and operation
of telematics devices; to set up a national education program to teach drivers
how to use telematics and electronic devices safely; and to identify relevant
research and strategies governing this issue.

    Colleen Serafin, chair of SAE's Safety and Human Factors Committee,
explained that SAE is working in four areas related to driver distraction.
These areas include (1) a guideline that proposes a methodology for
prioritizing incoming messages to assist the driver in managing the volume of
incoming information; (2) a measurement protocol for visual demand that
recommends an approach for performing and documenting future research; (3)
recommendations for the minimum driver interface requirements of adaptive
cruise control (ACC) and forward collision warning (FCW) systems that would
promote consistency, understandability and ease of use; and (4) a guideline
describing protocol for determining functions of navigation systems that are
accessible to the driver while the vehicle is in motion.

    SAE, through its SAE Strategic Alliance (SSA), has been addressing the
driver distraction issue for a number of years.  Driver distraction is
becoming a more prominent issue in automotive safety due to the increased use
of electronic devices in automobiles such as cell phones, global positioning
systems (GPS), pagers, and personal digital assistants (PDA) units.