Chevy Vehicles Get 4G Wi-Fi: Is It Dangerous?

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By Douglas A. McIntyre Published
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General Motors Co. (GM: NYSE) division Chevrolet claims that it has made 4G Wi-Fi available across several of its model lines. The offering may spur demand, but it also may make the driving experience more dangerous. Drivers already are distracted by portable device texting and talking. And 4G Wi-Fi hot spots sold by wireless providers already allow owners of any car to have what Chevy offers.

Chevy management writes:

Internet in your car? It’s here. Chevrolet is leading the way with the most vehicles in its line up offering the available built-in OnStar 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot, allowing drivers the ability to seamlessly connect their smart devices and vehicles to the internet.

The system will allow up to seven devices to have Wi-Fi access. The product is currently available on the Volt, Malibu, Impala, Corvette and Equinox. Most of the balance of the Chevy line-up will get the service “soon.”

The FCC recently released a report that pointed out:

The popularity of mobile devices has had some unintended and even dangerous consequences. We now know that mobile communications are linked to a significant increase in distracted driving, resulting in injury and loss of life.

  • The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that in 2010 driver distraction was the cause of 18 percent of all fatal crashes — with 3,092 people killed — and crashes resulting in an injury — with 416,000 people wounded.
  • Forty percent of all American teens say they have been in a car when the driver used a cell phone in a way that put people in danger, according to a Pew survey.
  • The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that text messaging creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving while not distracted.
  • Eleven percent of drivers aged 18 to 20 who were involved in an automobile accident and survived admitted they were sending or receiving texts when they crashed.

Distracted driving endangers life and property and the current levels of injury and loss are unacceptable.

Chevy can add its 4G Wi-Fi to the list of things drivers can use while they should be watching the road.

READ ALSO: GM Stops Sales of Hot-Selling Corvette

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

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