AUTO GADGETS DRIVE COMMUTERS TO DISTRACTION.

Byline: Steve Carney Staff Writer

With your car phone ringing, the fax machine buzzing and a voice from the onboard computer telling you what street to take, it can be tough to concentrate at 75 mph.

And that's exactly the problem, according to new research from Virginia Tech University that examines how drivers are distracted by in-car technology.

``The tasks are becoming more, and they're becoming more complex,'' said Tom Dingus, director of the Center for Transportation Studies at Virginia Tech.

``Now drivers are doing planning, communication, computation, and that can take drastically a greater amount of time and attention,'' he said.

A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study last year found driver distractions contributed to half of all crashes. And a 1997 report in the New England Journal of Medicine said cellular phone use quadruples the chances of a crash - about the same risk as driving drunk.

Dingus, whose institute studies in-car devices for manufacturers, said the proliferation of navigation systems and even computers and mobile fax machines is increasing the potential for trouble on the road.

An extreme example may be actor Will Smith's Chevrolet Suburban, with $120,000 worth of custom goodies including two cell phones and, for passengers, three liquid-crystal video monitors, a DVD player, stereo VHS, a TV tuner, Nintendo 64 and Sony Playstation video games.

What Dingus found is the more complex the devices, the more danger for drivers.

Some accessories forced drivers to look away from the road 20 to 25 times and required 60 seconds or more of attention, Dingus said.

``That's not particularly good,'' he said.

Trouble on board

The threshold for trouble is when the driver has to glance at something six or more times, or if he or she has to focus on a device for 20 or more seconds.

``That's when the risk really starts to increase. You really lose your situational awareness. You don't know what the traffic is around you, and you can be surprised,'' Dingus said.

Drivers may not notice they're drifting out of their lane or slowing down or won't see a traffic hazard in time.

Jeffrey Spring, spokesman for the Automobile Club of Southern California, said the distracted-driver research at Virginia Tech reinforces the safety message his agency gives drivers.

``The prime reason for being in the car is to drive and drive safely,'' Spring said. Cellular phones or onboard navigation systems ``can be helpful to get you somewhere, but it's no use to get you somewhere if you crash in the process.''

He said drivers should stop driving if they find themselves having to pay too much attention to any device.

``Pull over to the side of the road, get your information and move on,'' Spring said. ``Multitasking may work well in the office environment, but not on the road.''

More to come

The thirst for more car devices seems insatiable, according to automakers, accessory manufacturers and computer and communications companies. They continue producing gizmos for drivers, from mobile faxes to fasteners to attach a laptop computer to the steering wheel.

Dingus said the devices can be useful, if used safely. He said an onboard navigation computer is easier to use than a paper map, for instance.

About 80,000 vehicles in the United States carry electronic navigation systems, said Roger King, spokesman for the Washington D.C.-based Intelligent Transportation Society of America. He said they're far more popular in Europe and Japan, which each has more than four times that many.

But Hertz has begun supplying 50,000 of its midsize and larger rental cars in the United States, Canada and Europe with navigation systems. The company first tested 600 of the units in 1995, and their popularity has made the company increase the number ever since, Hertz spokeswoman Paula Stifter said.

Using Global Positioning Satellites, Hertz's NeverLost system can give the car's location on a small screen, and display a basic map showing the way to any location the driver types in. But as soon as the customer turns it on, the system warns not to use it while driving.

One driver's aid that is nearly hands-free is Cadillac's On Star system. With that a driver can press a button and be connected with a remote operator who can give directions, make restaurant reservations and track the car via satellite.

Keep mind on the road

Even if a driver is only talking and not looking at something, he or she can still be distracted if quick decisions are needed, Dingus said. ``One of the real critical things was what the driver is doing with the information,'' he said.

The most prevalent potential troublemaker remains the cellular phone.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the United States will have about 80 million cell phone users by next year.

And, in a recent survey by Prevention magazine, 85 percent of the respondents said they sometimes use their cell phones while driving. That, despite the fact 70 percent said it took at least as much concentration as tuning the radio, and 18 percent said phone use distracted them from the road.

Linda Tellez of Burbank said she used to make calls from her 1999 Cadillac Seville in her job as a client relations manager for a marketing firm. She quit when she found herself struggling to read the numbers and weaving in traffic.

``I said forget it, this is too distracting,'' Tellez, 51, said. ``It's too much.''

But her husband, Lou, a general contractor, still makes mobile calls.

``He's on the phone, and it's, hey, you passed the house,'' she said.

Gerald Koris, 71, a lawyer from Los Angeles who drives a Lexus SC300, said he's had several close calls with distracted drivers. But he takes precautions when making calls himself.

``I try ideally to turn over to the curb or only punch the number in when I'm at a stoplight,'' he said.

But King said we shouldn't demonize cell phones or in-vehicle navigation systems because they could cause distractions.

``Good heavens, what do we do when we drive our cars? We do crossword puzzles. We put makeup on. We do a lot of things that distract ourselves,'' he said.

Dingus acknowledged that other things inside the car can muddle a driver - changing a CD, or listening to an engrossing book tape. But those acts don't require as much concentration as processing information or carrying on a conversation.

``You're not trying to make a decision, and it's not a forced-pace decision,'' Dingus said. ``It's not, I've got to decide whether to take this exit or not, or whether to sell my stock or not.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1) Casa de Cadillac salesman Dave Bellamy explains how the three-button On Star phone systems works inside a Cadillac Escalade SUV.

(2) This instrument panel displays a voice-activated telephone number.

John Lazar/Daily News