Ford SYNC's Voice Technology Helps Drivers Watch the Road

In a recent study, Ford's SYNCTechnology is shown to help drivers keep their eyes on the road, by reducing the distractions created by manually-controlled electronics.

• A new Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study lends further evidence that voice-controlled Ford’s SYNC® helps drivers minimize electronics-related distractions compared to manually operating hand-held cell phones and music players.
• The researchers found that participants took their eyes off the road an average of 10 times longer while manually selecting a song from their MP3 players compared to using SYNC’s voice commands

The study by VTTI – to be released April 15 in Detroit at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) World Congress during a panel discussion titled “Human Factors in Driving and Automotive Telematics” – supports the Institute’s growing body of research on driver distraction and as well as a similar Ford study in 2009.

In the new Ford-commissioned VTTI study, 21 drivers – age 19 to 51 who were familiar with SYNC – drove a Mercury Mariner while initiating a call, selecting music tracks and having phone conversations using the hands-free, voice controlled system. For the purpose of comparison, the participants also completed the same tasks manually using their own mobile phones and portable music players in the same vehicle.

The study concluded that drivers were able to dial and complete other tasks more quickly and with less time eyes-off-road time when using SYNC. At the same time, drivers manually operating phones and digital music players steered more erratically and looked away from the roadway for longer periods of time.

Read entire article here.

For more information on Ford vehicles with SYNC Technology, contact Lakewood Fordland.