Safety campaigners look to put brake on carmakers" drive for tech There are few platforms in the US car industry better for shaping industry opinion than the New York auto show's first day press breakfast presentation. Yet when Jim Farley, a senior executive at Ford Motor, spoke at the gathering in March, his main topic was one that five years ago few in the audience would have pondered at all - the relationship between cars and mobile phones. Mr Farley's choice reflected a current preoccupation for many in the US car industry. They are concerned that mobile phones have stolen some of the aspirational cool that cars used to have. Carmakers also worry they have been too slow to recognise consumers" demand that their mobiles interact better with their cars. "We need to start looking at the car as a mobile device," Mr Farley said, as he set out a manifesto to change the relationship. However, Mr Farley's remarks also seemed to reflect priorities in integrating phones and cars that concern some safety regulators and campaigners. While he invited representatives of Google and Facebook on stage to discuss how to make the integration seamless, Mr Farley made little mention of safety issues until reporters asked about them. Henry Jasny, vice-president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a campaign group, says there is a tension between maximising sales and improving safety. "There's a balance that we think should be more heavily weighted towards safety," he says. The question is whether carmakers can pursue that integration while also helping in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's goal of cutting the thousands of fatalities each year that the NHTSA attributes to distracted driving. Jeff Owens, chief technology officer for Delphi, the car component manufacturer, accepts there could be a tension between the carmakers" desire to meet consumer demands and regulators" demands for improved safety. "It would appear at face value that those [goals] are diametrically opposed," Mr Owens says. There is certainly no doubt that some new technologies are improving overall road safety. Annual road deaths in the US have fallen steadily in recent years. Among the products being gradually introduced are equipment that warns drivers when their vehicle is leaving its lane and devices that automatically apply a car's brakes if it is on course for a collision. Yet mobile devices" popularity appears to be slowing the decline in road deaths. NHTSA figures for 2011 - the last year for which data are available - estimate that phone distraction accounted for 3,331 of the 32,367 road deaths in the year. Many observers - including Mr Jasny - say those figures underestimate the true toll. We're afraid that by building in a certain level of distraction we're sending out the wrong message Henry Jasny, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety Guidelines that the NHTSA published in April largely reflect the view of Ray LaHood, the US's outgoing transport secretary, that use of a mobile device is largely incompatible with safe driving. "Distracted driving is a serious and deadly epidemic on America's roadways," he said when the guidelines were published. Powering down your cell phone when you're behind the wheel can save lives - maybe even your own. The NHTSA recommended that in-car docking stations for phones bar text entry, videoconferencing and a range of other activities unless the vehicle is parked. Yet carmakers respond that the stance is so restrictive it will instead push drivers to use more dangerous handheld devices, instead of in-car stations designed to minimise drivers" distraction. "The reality is they're going to do it," Mr Farley said of drivers" device use at the auto show. How do you do it so that it keeps everybody's eyes on the road? Carmakers are optimistic that a range of new technologies - including voice activation for more functions; simple, easy-to-understand controls on cars" docking stations; and dashboard indicators close to the windscreen - can square the safety and integration circle by allowing safe phone use. Mr Owens argues that, with a good built-in system, the apparent contradiction between mobile use and safe driving disappears. "I think that with a genuinely ergonomic system you can offer more connectivity with less distraction, not more," he says. However, it remains to be seen whether the NHTSA will loosen its stance or move towards compelling manufacturers to limit in-car systems" capabilities. The most important point, according to Mr Jasny, will be to ensure that whatever rules emerge they avoid giving drivers the impression they can safely take their eyes off the road for long periods. "We're afraid that by building in a certain level of distraction we're sending out the wrong message - that it's OK and safe to take your eyes off the road," he says. We're trying to prevent that.