Survey: gadgets in cars distract us

A survey has discovered that two thirds of us believe that car gadgets are distracting.

Motors.co.uk's amusing survey suggests that 30 per cent of people believe that a sat nav affects their concentration.

Even more people suggested that fiddling with the CD player, iPods and, believe it or not, steering wheel control buttons was distracting for them and other drivers.

"Many modern cars are filled with gadgets and gizmos and for many drivers are seen as not only confusing to use, but also a major cause of distraction for both themselves and other drivers," said marketing manager Katie Armitage.

Back to basics?

"On the back of these findings we are urging manufacturers to 'Go back to Basics' and to consider the safety of drivers and how they use the add-ons with the emphasis being placed on not losing concentration."

Of course, a second hand car dealer urging people to go back to simpler times may be accused of having a vested interest in steering people away from new-fangled gadget auto-nirvanas.

And if fiddling with steering wheel controls is confusing people, we can only imagine that motors.co.uk is urging a return to the times when cars didn't even have tape players – as we can't imagine that fiddling round in the glovebox for that omnipresent copy of Queen's greatest hits would help at all.

So you heard it here first – let's all go back to basics and put a man with a flag in front of the cars. Or even better let's just all go back to bikes.

Unless the bell proves too much of a distraction…