In this report
Overview
The new electronics frontier
Distraction by degrees
The new Wild West
Controls gone wild
High-tech distractions: Then and now
Facebook users weigh in
75 Years of CU
Consmers Union 75th Anniversary 75 years bold

A retrospective of Consumer Reports and its place in the American consumer landscape.

High-tech distractions: Then and now

Last reviewed: October 2011
October 2011 issue cover This article appeared in
October 2011 Consumer Reports Magazine.
Old image of a woman in a car
Simpler times
Safety advocates were concerned about the distraction of early car radios, like the one in this 1932 Motorola advertisement.
Photograph © Motorola Mobility, Inc.

Concerns about automotive electronics and distracted driving are nothing new. When car radios began gaining popularity in the 1930s, various pieces of legislation were introduced to make them illegal on the grounds that they were mentally distracting and a contributor to "one-arm driving."

In our October 1937 report on car radios, we noted, as we do now with modern systems, that "not much is known about the actual effect of a car radio on one's driving technique."

Our bottom line today remains the same as it did in 1937: "The driver should bear in mind at all times that his primary responsibility is for the safe operation of his car."