CARS feature so many gadgets and are so comfortable that drivers feel like they are in their living rooms, according to the Institute of Advanced Motorists.

The IAM says drivers are getting too distracted by sat navs and mobile phones offering easy access to social media. The group says car makers should not introduce gadgets which can distract drivers for more than two seconds and wants new restrictions on use of ‘non-essential forms of technology’.

The group is calling for the UK to adopt guidelines from the US, where accidents involving distracted drivers resulted in 3,331 deaths and 387,000 injuries in 2011.  

IAM chief executive officer Sarah Sillars said: ‘We cannot allow the same trends in the USA to happen here. While car makers work constantly to incorporate active and passive safety features into vehicles, making us safer than ever before, they are also guilty of making us too comfortable and making us feel more cosseted – like we were in our own living rooms.’

A spokesperson for the group said: ‘The IAM has suggested the UK should adopt guidelines suggested by the US Department of Transportation and National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA).

‘They say drivers should be restricted from using certain non-essential forms of technology while the vehicle is in motion, and car makers should not introduce any technological development which takes the driver’s attention off the road for longer than two seconds.

‘These voluntary guidelines are to be phased in over the next three years to address this large-scale problem in the USA.’

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