NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL CALLS GM’S IN-CAR MARKETPLACE DANGEROUS

"There’s nothing about this that’s safe"

Yesterday, General Motors announced a new service called GM Marketplace. It’s an in-car shopping app that allows Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC owners to purchase food, as well as other consumer goods and services, directly from their infotainment screens. But already, at least one consumer safety group is taking issue with the new app.

Bloomberg reports that Deborah Hersman, president of the National Safety Council, has said GM Marketplace will increase driver distractions. And the more distracted drivers are, the more likely they are to wreck. Distracted driving is already a contributing factor in more than a quarter of all crashes, and over the last year, auto fatalities have increased 5.6 percent.

“There’s nothing about this that’s safe,” Hersman told Bloomberg. “If this is why they want Wi-Fi in the car, we’re going to see fatality numbers go up even higher than they are now.”

GM, however, says Marketplace is designed to be a safer alternative to placing mobile orders with phones. Vijay Iyer, a GM spokesman, told Bloomberg the service complies with voluntary driver-distraction guidelines that many automakers have agreed on. The app was also designed to minimize the number of steps it takes to complete an order.

Source: Bloomberg