Onstar: Facebook Features Could Be Unsafe
Having told the world that Onstar will allow users to update their Facebook profiles and listen to Facebook news feeds from their cars, bosses at the GM subsidiary reveal that they haven’t actually determined if these features are safe yet. Onstar Marketing boss Sam Mancuso explains the situation to AdAge
Today people are texting while they are driving. It’s not legal and it’s a very bad idea; 47% of people who are texting say that they have done so in their vehicle while driving. To do a normal text message takes 4.6 seconds, and at the speed of 55 miles an hour, someone can travel the length of a football field. We know that people want to use technology, but we are working on using it in ways that they don’t have to be distracted. Our goal is to minimize that distraction to virtually zero.
The litmus test we use is “Keep your eyes on the road, your hands on the wheel and your mind on the drive.” If we find that the texting service or Facebook audio update capability causes people to be distracted we’re not going to do it. We’ll vet those things out internally…We’d be very proud to talk to you, others in the media or family and friends and say we tested it, developed it and it’s not safe.
Does anyone actually believe that this will be the outcome, now that GM and Onstar have begun hyping these features?
After all, Mancuso explains that the rebranding of Onstar has already begun.
We’re stretching the brand according to our original mission, which is keeping people connected via their vehicles. In the past, OnStar was depicted as you knew it was there and you didn’t want to have to use it because that meant there was an accident or your car stolen. You’ll see in the new campaign uses of OnStar with everyday circumstances that are bright, energetic, positive and optimistic. We want to convey services that you want to use every single day that help you enable your interaction with your vehicle versus having a service you love but you don’t want to have to use it.
And doesn’t using distracting features more in “everyday circumstances” fundamentally increase driver distraction? Remember, we still have yet to see evidence that hands-free communication is fundamentally safer than using a handheld device. And over at GM’s Fastlane blog, we hear that
With all of these advancements, there’s one thing that we’ll never lose sight of, and that’s the safety of those in our vehicles. We will lead in developing solutions that minimize driver workload with an emphasis on keeping hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.
We’ll increasingly rely on voice recognition solutions that minimize driver distraction, and we have a team of researchers and engineers at our Technical Center in Warren, Mich. whose job it is to test and validate all of our connectivity solutions using our advanced interior simulator.
The simulator allows us to measure driver behavior while they complete simple tasks like changing a radio station or inputting a navigation destination. The team looks at eye movements, pedal and steering adjustments that result from completing the tasks.
If it takes too long for a driver to complete the task, we go back to the drawing board and make the task simpler
This seems to contradict Mancuso’s claim that GM “would be proud” to walk away from Facebook integration if it were found to be unsafe. “Making the task simpler” is not the same as deciding not to chase a feature whose pointlessness is evident in Onstar’s own demonstration video. Meanwhile, we don’t know what GM’s standard for acceptable distraction is, but we do know that passive safety measures can be sold, while active safety (namely, distraction-free driving) can’t. Given this set of incentives, it’s hard not to worry about the safety implications of Onstar’s move towards social media.
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To the question of if we would pull the plug on this if we felt it didn't solve at some level the issue of texting, the answer is we absolutely will. We studied three years of hands free calling data, which is where we launch this ap, and found that not only was there NO incidence of increased air bag deployments, we actually found the studied sample was safer than the control group. This was a surprise. What I'm finding in the debate here is people are aligning generationally on this....those who hate social media in general are crapping all over it, people who are hooked on social media love it. The question we have to answer is simply whether this is helping the cause of safe driving, or hurting it. If endeavoring to use real world information and facts to determine this is seen as a bad thing (as some seem to feel here), than I guess we'll endure the scorn. We're a brand built on safety and security...that's what we do, that's what people buy. You never betray your brand values...we won't here. As for the folks who think we're following Sync, the reality is the systems are apples and oranges. We've been at this for 15 years...we have nearly 6 million active subscribers and the business is extremely positive for our vehicle brands...and very profitable. We telegraphed very clearly that OnStar can play in non-subscription based services by blending the best of what an imbedded telematic device and the IT backbone brings, alongside a tethered smart phone with an HMI infotainment system. We're building around that ability and will make more news soon. Add in our ability to provide true vehicle control through phone aps/web and bring in a live adviser...it's a great product. At the end of the day, this is a very intense and competitive area for the industry...we intend to appeal to the most connected parts of the youth market, all the way up to those who won't even connect a phone to Bluetooth....just push the blue button and talk to a living human being. Hope this helps.... Chris Preuss OnStar
Joe, Based on that logic...and nothing personal from my side either...we should elminate radios, not allow passengers, ban cell phones 100 percent, bar pets and anything else that could distract. The issue is that people will text and post to social media...that's a fact. If we can mitigate that impact, we're taking a look. The data is the data....we have great experience here with what we can read in the diagnostics. At the foundational level, we have distraction...that's only going to get worse...why is bad to look at this within the technology we offer? I appreciate the thoughts....