So the texting, the (barely) legal alcohol, the cannabis, and these programs have about the same impact? !! That makes me think that the dangers of the first three have been overblown. And of course, they don't compare driving-while-sleepy; the sleepy thing is too hard the measure. They SHOULD be measuring "reckless driving", but that is also hard to measure.

Did you run the test with Tesla Model w/HW3 upgrade running on Autopilot? You should.

So here's the thing they are missing. When I check a message it's at a stoplight. When a drunk drives they are drunk during all phases of driving. These studies do not compare apples to apples, but they make shocking headlines, which is all the world seems to care about anymore...

Knobs are far better than touch screens while driving. I understand the fascination with touch screens - ease of upgrade and configuration. But trying to use one while driving is dangerous, even for simple things like adjusting volume.
I would think a heads up display with steering wheel controls would be much safer. Just eliminating the "reach, position finger, and touch" requirement would be a huge improvement.
Liability wise, it's surprising automakers didn't figure this out before introducing touch screens to the dashboard.

We're the users familiar with the UI already? I'm a regular user, and know all the buttons to push to get here or there more efficiently. It can be a major distraction for someone unfamiliar with it, or someone who doesn't usually use voice prompts. However, as someone who uses both a lot I know there is no way Android Auto is worse than texting while driving, at least for me.

These studies are beyond idiotic and the conclusions drawn are more dangerous than the things claimed to be more dangerous than texting while driving. I use Android Auto and Echo Auto basically every day and not once has it been a distraction.

The first issue is everything did work with voice command, but the software crashed.

I agree! All these fancy technologie are distracting. Even talking to someone in your car is or can be dangerous. How many times does someone cut you by changing lines on the highway or traveling at very low speed on the left line, or not taking off on a green light? When we look, the driver does not even notice that he is being overtaken by his right and he or she stays there talking and gesturing as if he or she would be in his living room! Save drive averyone!

What a crock. Plenty of studies from more reputable organizations as well as Consumer Reports have demonstrated the complete opposite.

Easy to have a study say anything you want based on how you conduct it and methodology. Fortunately, we still have common sense. Get in a car and use them, and you'll see it's a no brainer.

This is not surprising at all. Android Auto is a convuluted mess. Half the time would be spent trying to diagnose why audio is coming through the phone rather than the cars speakers.