Is your car distracting you?

New vehicle infotainment systems offer an array of high-tech features, but motorists should be cautious of using them.

Many of these systems take drivers’ eyes and attention off the road and hands off the wheel for potentially dangerous periods of time, according to a new study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

AAA has conducted this new research to help automakers and system designers improve the functionality of new infotainment systems and their demand on drivers.

In the study, which evaluated 30 new 2017 vehicles, drivers used voice command, touch screen and other interactive technologies to make a call, send a text message, tune the radio or program navigation, all while driving. Drivers using voice-based and touch screen technology experienced very high levels of visual and mental demands for more than 40 seconds when completing tasks like programming navigation or sending a text message. Just two seconds of not watching the road doubles the risk for a crash, according to previous research.

The study examined not only visual (eyes-off-road), cognitive (mental) demand, but also accounted for how long it took drivers to complete tasks using vehicle technology.

Programming navigation was the most distracting task, taking an average of 40 seconds for drivers to complete. That’s the same amount of time it would take to travel the length of four football fields while driving at 25 mph, which is too much time and too much distance traveled without proper focus on the road. Programming navigation while driving was available in 12 of the 30 vehicle systems tested.

Researchers found that most infotainment systems tested could easily be made safer by simply following clearly stated federal recommendations such as locking out text messaging, social media and programming navigation while the car is in motion.

With one in three U.S. adults using infotainment systems while driving, AAA cautions drivers that using these technologies while behind the wheel can have dangerous consequences.

“Some of the latest systems on the market now include functions unrelated to the core task of driving like sending text messages, checking social media or surfing the web -- tasks we have no business doing behind the wheel,” AAA President and CEO Marshall Doney said. “Automakers should aim to reduce distractions by designing systems that are no more visually or mentally demanding than listening to the radio. And drivers should avoid the temptation to engage with these technologies, especially for non-driving tasks.”

Researchers developed an advanced rating scale to measure the various demands experienced by drivers using each vehicle’s infotainment system. A low level of demand equates to listening to the radio or an audiobook, while very high demand is equivalent to trying to balance a checkbook while driving. AAA believes a safe in-vehicle technology system should not exceed a low level of demand.

None of the 30 vehicle infotainment systems produced low demand and many of them offered features unrelated to the core task of driving.