‘Keep your mind on your driving, keep your hands on the wheel, keep your snoopy eyes on the road ahead’ goes the chorus of the 1959 song Seven Little Girls (Sitting in The Back Seat).  But in today’s cars the flirtatious driving distraction is just as likely to be online as in the car.  

Telephone book and dialling, internet, full iPod display and Google searches are just a few of the distractions drivers face as dashboards go online.

Our recent research shows that using a smartphone while driving increases reaction times by 38 per cent, read more... Eight per cent of participants in a recent survey admitted doing it – 24 per cent of 17-24 year old drivers.

But many of the applications available on a smartphone can also be accessed on car dashboards, even on the move.

These new, high-tech dashboards will undoubtedly make driving safer to some extent – hands-free phone calls, a direct alert to call emergency services in the event of an accident, and a sat nav that doesn’t obscure your vision, but the temptation to use the additional features will be there. The key is to learn to use them safely.

Set your sat nav and playlists up before you move off. And pull over in a safe place before making any changes. If you’re trying to do this on the move, not only are you not looking at the road, but you are thinking about whether or not you’d rather listen to Elton John or Jessie J rather than what’s happening on the road around you.

Avoid the temptation to use any features that require input from the driver on the move. You may be running low on petrol, or getting peckish, but there is no excuse for using Google when you’re driving. Plan your journey before you go to schedule in rest and petrol stops, and if you do need local information, same as the above, find somewhere safe to stop.

Get to grips with what the commands mean. Modern cars have a million and one possible features, but you will only get the best out of them if you spend some time getting to know them. Many digital dashboards will tell you if your tyre pressures are correctly inflated for instance.

Be honest with yourself - the one thing most of us have trouble resisting is temptation, so if you find it too distracting, turn it off.