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May 05, 2006
‘CAR TALK’ HOST GREETS GM CELLPHONE STUDY WITH DOUBTS
After GM published a study claiming that it could find only two accidents involving cellphone use after surveying millions of miles of records from its OnStar system, Tom Magliozzi of PBS’s “Car Talk” wrote the company a letter begging to differ. He got flak from GM and a raft of responses from listeners, some agreeing, some not. His basic premise: GM had not reported its results accurately. He said:
“So, if you're like us, you're left wondering, ‘Why would GM publish the results of this study?’ Well, funny you should ask. It just so happens that GM is at the forefront of ‘telematics,’ the technology that will bring yet more distracting features to your car. They stand to make hundreds of millions of dollars with email, Web access, and cell-phone technology in new cars. In other words, don't mistake this study as being from an independent, disinterested source, because GM clearly isn't. In my humble opinion, GM's trying to lull us into a false sense of security.” The argument over the distracting influence on drivers of cellphones and other “telematics” devices in cars is sure to get hotter as more and more of them are introduced.
The full letter and Tom’s discussion of it are posted at CarTalk.com, along with a link to the GM study.
Posted by MVHAP at May 5, 2006 07:05 PM