Enlarge / An exploded view of Magna's driver monitoring system built into a rearview mirror. (credit: Magna)
Distracted driving continues to be a problem in the US. One solution to the problem might look something like a new rearview mirror made by the automotive supplier Magna. At first glance, it looks like any other auto-dimming rearview mirror, but it cleverly incorporates a driver-monitoring system, or DMS. It solves a common problem with dash-mounted DMSes, and it's self-contained, so it's mounted in the same way a regular rearview mirror attaches to a car.
Magna gave Ars a demo of the DMS on Wednesday as the company was visiting Washington, DC, for National Distracted Driving Month. That's an awareness thing, not a call to engage in more of it, although newly released crash statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show a national trend headed in the wrong direction. More than 3,500 people were killed by distracted driving in 2021, a 12 percent increase over the year before.
Distracted driving encompasses many things—eating, shaving, and applying makeup all count. But technology shoulders a large share of the blame. Between smartphones and infotainment systems, drivers are overloaded with information, and the consequences can be as gory as a Max Headroom episode.
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