Bringing new technology into a vehicle may make drivers’ lives easier and more comfortable, but it also can draw their attention from the road.

“Distractions themselves are becoming increasing concerns,” said Robert Thompson, program evaluator for the Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, especially with more complex driving environments and more congestion.

Cell phones, makeshift offices and television screens in the front part of the vehicle are a few of the growing distractions, said Thompson, but GPS units may be a plus.

“For the most part, GPS units are a driver assist for finding locations and directions,” Thompson said. “They’re very helpful to a lot of people to the extent that the display aspect isn’t too intrusive into the driving environment.”

His rule of thumb: If a device has little or no safety value, then it probably is not worth having it in the vehicle.

Although safety officials are becoming aware of the problem, they have little ability to change it, unless the accessory is something that blocks the driver’s view through the front windshield, said Thompson. Otherwise, if an officer pulls a driver over for a traffic violation and sees a distracting piece of equipment, he or she can only advise the driver to remove it from the vehicle.

Part of the reason no public policy exists is that there is little research proving that distracting devices cause crashes.

“Distracted driving crashes tend to be significantly underreported,” Thompson said. “Is an individual in a single-vehicle crash really going to point out to the law enforcement official, ‘Oh, I ran into an object because I was looking at my computer’?”

Some police officers, however, have started noting cell phone usage on traffic tickets and accident reports, said Thompson, which may help pass legislation that prohibits young drivers with Iowa’s Graduated Driver Licenses to use them when driving. Other states, including New York, have banned cell phone usage without a hands-free set.

Problems with distractions in the vehicle tend not to lie with car manufacturers, but rather with drivers who choose to install these features after purchase. Al Bell, sales manager for Betts Auto Campus in the Hummer division, said that his dealership will only install a DVD player in the back seat. David Dean, general sales manager at European Motorcars, said most car manufacturers are coming out with new technology that help keep eyes on the road, including Bluetooth software and voice-activated navigation units.

“Everything is around the steering wheel,” said Dean, “so you don’t look around at stuff.”

Entertainment-heavy vehicles will likely not face scrutiny from the law for a while, said Thompson, because there are other priorities, such as drivers not wearing seatbelts or driving while intoxicated.