Does Yelling at Your Car Distract? NHTSA Wants to Know
Published Date: 2/10/2026
Notice
Summary
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) wants to study how voice command systems in cars might distract drivers and affect their focus. They’re asking the public to share thoughts before April 13, 2026, to help shape this research. This could lead to safer car tech and better rules, with no immediate costs but important future safety benefits.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
You can volunteer for a driving simulator study
You can volunteer to take part in a one-time driving simulator study if you live in Torrance, California (or nearby), are 18–70 years old, have a valid driver's license, and meet other health and eligibility rules (for example, not pregnant, no recent seizures, not using sedatives). Participation requires about 2.5 hours in the study session plus completion of pre-study forms, and the agency estimates 1,330 people will be screened to produce a final sample of 144 participants.
Study compares six in-car voice systems
NHTSA will collect one-time data from a planned final sample of 144 participants (24 per group) to compare six voice command interface (VCI) systems: Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, Google Built-In, and three original equipment manufacturer (OEM) systems across four vehicles. The study will gather driver performance (SDLP, SDS, SDf), eye-tracking distraction measures (mean glance duration, total glance time, proportion of long glances), and cognitive workload metrics (pupil diameter, heart rate variability, and TDRT measures).
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