CEA Fights Back on Car Gadget Safety

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CEA

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) Wednesday launched a promotional campaign to show that electronics gadgets and cars can be a safe combination.

The campaign, called “Innovating Safety” is to inform the public and lawmakers about the many gadgets that help driver safety including Bluetooth kits and teen tracking.

The new campaign started this morning at a Real Clear Politics’ policy forum in Washington, D.C. where lawmakers are discussing distracted driving and where Audiovox Electronics President Tom Malone was a panelist.  Malone said, “The variety of products offered by our industry to reduce driver distraction is expanding every day. The challenge is educating consumers on all of the options available to them.”

The CEA campaign will also be part of a nationwide Demo Days program November 9-11, where car audio specialists demo and promote car electronics to raise public awareness.  The category will also be showcased at CES in January.

Products highlighted are those that shorten the time a driver’s eyes are off the road.  Some products also give early warning about road conditions and lane changes or provide handsfree functions. Some products also better integrate phones into the car, said the CEA.

You can see some of the products in the campaign here at CE.org/InnovatingSafety.  They include Audiovox’s Car Connection teen tracking device; ORIGO Safe, an anti-texting device; Aamp’s iSimple InSeam hands free phone device and Cobra’s Android phone connection device.

It is interesting that two of the leading driver safety products the Mobileye 560 crash warning system and Gosher’s Blind Spot Detector were not included in the CEA web site. Mobileye is a CEA member but Goshers is not, according to a CEA member listing.

CEA CEO Gary Shapiro said, “Safety is paramount in a moving vehicle and the consumer electronics industry recognizes that distracted driving is a critical public safety issue.  Our Innovating Safety campaign will empower consumers with information on the array of products our members design, build and sell to increase safety and awareness behind the wheel.”

Retailers can get involved in the Demo Days program where all car audio products will be featured, including driver safety products. Under the program, dealers get free help promoting a demo day they hold at the store with free email and Facebook promotional assistance through Revenew.

You can see more on CEA’s stance on driver safety here.

Source: CEA

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