In-vehicle technology has progressed by leaps and bounds in recent years. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that General Motors would be making a big push to equip many of its 2015 vehicles with Wi-Fi. At the same time, a greater number of vehicles are adding Bluetooth technology, hands-free messaging and voice-activated devices to their repertoire, expanding what drivers can do without taking their eyes off the road or their hands off the wheel.

As vehicle manufacturers innovate, not all critics are sure infotainment systems are helping to keep drivers safe on the road. In fact, many sources suggest that the technologies may be distracting drivers even without occupying their eyes or hands.

"We established that there are significant impairments to driving that stem from the diversion of attention from the task of operating a motor vehicle," reads an AAA report. "The data suggest that voice-based interactions in the vehicle may have unintended consequences that adversely affect traffic safety."

What does this mean for the future of the in-vehicle user interface industry? The answer to that question is still uncertain as AAA has had difficulty quantifying the data.

"Measuring cognitive distraction has proven to be the most difficult of the three sources of distraction to assess because of the problems associated with observing what a driver's brain (as opposed to hands or eyes) is doing," the report says.

Nonetheless, the group has concluded that some of the infotainment technologies pose road threats equivalent or greater than other driving habits. For instance, the report claimed that speech-to-text systems were some of the most distracting during vehicle operation while handheld and hand-free cellphone use were close behind in terms of their levels of distraction.

Enhancing the user experience for drivers in recent years has meant loading vehicles with cutting-edge hands-free technologies. However, it is becoming clear that these devices could distract and increase the number of accidents on the road. This, in turn, could create the need for an overhaul of the in-car infotainment industry.