Autobytel DVD Survey/poll

Are DVD Players Driving Drivers to Distraction ­ or Keeping Kids Quiet?
61% of Drivers Surveyed in Autobytel Snap Poll Say DVDs Are Potential Safety
Hazards; In Separate Poll 69% Say They Help Minimize Distraction of
Screaming Kids 

June 30, 2005‹ According to Autobytel Inc.¹s Automotive Information Center
(AIC) division, 22 new vehicle models in the U.S. now offer DVD players as
standard features while nearly 1 in 5 of all new models offer them as an
available option. The bottom line: When you hit the road this summer,
there¹s a good chance that a movie will be playing ³in a car near you.²

But is that a good thing or a bad thing in terms of driving safety? Critics
have denounced the DVD player as just another in a series of high-tech bells
and whistles ­ e.g., cell phones, bluetooth, satellite radio, navigation
systems, etal ­ that are turning cars into electronic funhouses, and driving
drivers to distraction. But these critics may be overlooking the upshot of
mobile movie watching ­ rapt, entertained, quiet kids.

A recent Autobytel snap poll of its online car shoppers illustrates the dual
role of DVD players as both ³good² and ³bad² distractions in the eyes of
current drivers. Sixty-one percent of the drivers polled said they feel that
DVD/entertainment systems installed in vehicles are a potential safety
hazard, yet in a separate poll 69% said they ³helped minimize the
distraction of kids screaming and crying by keeping them quiet and focused
on movies.² 

The survey further suggests that DVD players may be doing more overall good
than harm, by effectively quelling a major distraction with merely a minor
one. When asked to name what they felt was the biggest distraction to
drivers, 34% of respondents cited screaming and/or crying children (which
finished second only to cell phones, at 47%) while only 12% named DVD
players. 

Eighty-four percent of survey-takers agreed that it should be illegal for
front-seat DVD systems to play movies while a car is being driven.