​​How GM is Combatting Distracted Driving​ 

Automotive public safety ads used to be about seat belts. They would cite multiple studies showing how seat belts saved lives, and for decades, they largely fell on deaf ears until they didn’t, and people started buckling in as a matter of habit. For a while, traffic fatalities and injuries declined. Then came cellphones, and not long after, smartphones. These miraculous little devices, in and of themselves, had nothing to do with cars or driving, yet they became a major cause of driving fatalities. GM is working to combat this and other forms of driver distraction, and this Barry’s Chevrolet blog post tells you how. 

In 2024, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) documented over 3,200 fatalities and an estimated exceeding 315,000 injuries consequent to accidents involving distracted drivers. Many of these incidents are plausibly attributable to drivers being distracted by their mobile devices. A 2016 study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) determined that the risk of a crash increases by a factor of two to six when drivers are engaged with their phones.  Just to restate, when people are engaged with their phones, the risk of a crash increases from 200 to 600 percent.

Cellphones aren’t the sole cause. The same 2016 NIH study revealed that behaviors such as searching around a vehicle for a lost item or diverting attention away from the road before a collision amplify a driver’s risk of crashing by a factor of seven to nine.

“When you’re behind the wheel, your primary job is driving while taking eyes off the road is inevitable, each off-road glance should be short and punctuated by a long on-road glance to maintain proper awareness of the road scene,” said GM’s Lead Engineer for Driver Distraction, Dan Glaser. “A single, seemingly trivial, glance from the road, if poorly timed, can be deadly.”

It should be noted that at the time of the 2016 study, while many new models had Bluetooth hands-free phone technology, a large portion of the public were driving older vehicles without the feature.  Every 2026 GM model is equipped with Bluetooth hands-free phone technology.

But since the issue is distraction of any kind, in 2024, GM introduced Driver Attention Assist on select models. Building on the technology from Super Cruise, Driver Attention Assist uses a small camera and sensors to detect signs of distraction or drowsiness. When such signs are identified, the system displays alerts on the gauge cluster, and either sounds chimes or activates haptic seat vibrations to help re-engage the driver. For 2025, GM introduced Driver Attention Assist 2.03, which can recognize an unresponsive driver, slow the vehicle to a stop, and initiate a call to OnStar.

GM also partners with several nonprofit organizations to improve overall automotive safety, including the Governors Highway Safety Association, the National Safety Council, and Teens in the Driver Seat.

Not everyone is in a position to rush out and buy a vehicle equipped with Driver Attention Assist, but there are several good habits you can engage in to keep yourself from being distracted. 

1. Stow your phone: If your vehicle has Bluetooth, make sure your phone is paired.  If you plan to use a phone app, make sure in advance that your phone is paired or connected by wire, if required.  Then set your phone in a place where it can remain for the duration of the trip. 
2. Familiarize yourself with the vehicle’s systems designed to limit distractions: Understand what you can do with voice commands and steering wheel buttons. 
3. Simplify the drive: Before you start driving, get your texting out of the way, find the best nav route, and locate the music or podcast you’ll need in advance so you don’t have to dig through your phone. 
4. Keep essentials handy: Position your water bottle and other items where they’re easily accessible without taking your eyes off the road. 
5. Take a moment: As it is with so much in life, taking a few deep breaths before driving away can help you focus on the task ahead.

The most important of the above is keeping your phone out of your hands.  “Please remember that every time we pick up a phone behind the wheel, we’re teaching the kids in the back seat that a text is worth more than their safety,” said Glaser. “Put it away, focus on driving, and show them that nothing on a screen is more important than everyone getting home alive and well.”

You know how you drive and the things you do while driving.  The next time you are car shopping, be sure to look for features that can mitigate your particular form of driver distraction.  When you shop at Barry’s Chevrolet, be sure to have our sales professionals show you all of the driver distraction mitigation features on any model you are considering.