Least Distracting Typefaces – Is This the Plan?

Least Distracting Typefaces

In late September, 2012, an item reported by Automotive News stated that a group at MIT (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) was doing a study on typefaces that would mitigate driver distraction. That is, typefaces that would be the least distracting.

Sure enough, a bit of additional exploration turned up work at the MIT Age Lab conducted along with the New England University Transportation Center and Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc. The exploratory study wanted to see if “certain type styles can reduce glance time — the time away from watching the road when driving while interacting with in-vehicle displays.” (see the press release here)

So, in a period of time when State legislatures are banning text messaging using cell phones because of the dangers, private companies – with a clear vested interest – and universities are studying how to reduce the time it takes to read text produced by in-car displays!

Is this really the best we can come up with? Has common sense left the building permanently alongside Elvis?

The press release linked above actually cites National Highway Transportation Safety Administration statistics stating that 26,000 crashes reported to police in 2010 “involved adjusting a device/control integral to the vehicle” and that “glances longer than two seconds are correlated with an increased crash/near-crash risk.”

Is There a Better Way?

While the intent of the research is laudable, wouldn’t it make more sense to remove text altogether? If a GPS system can give audible turn by turn directions, can’t text be shifted to spoken word? Glance time would drop to zero and maybe 26,000 crashes would be eliminated, not simply reduced.

Seriously, lets teach cars how to talk about itself, not just where the nearest pizza shop is.

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