Washington ( CNN ) -- Two seconds . Take your eyes off the road any longer and your chances of crashing multiply . With that in mind , the federal government on Tuesday asked automakers to equip cars with devices that require only fleeting glances to operate , instead of prolonged stares . Under the new voluntary guidelines , drivers should be able to operate on-board electronics while removing their eyes from the road -- or a hand from the wheel -- no longer than two seconds at a time , or 12 seconds total . Time-consuming functions -- such as text messaging and Internet browsing -- should be allowed only when a car is stopped and in park , the Department of Transportation said . Drivers should not be allowed to text or browse even at slow speeds because of the danger it presents to pedestrians , the DOT said . The guidelines , said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood , `` balance the innovation consumers want with the safety we all need . '' Some 3,000 people were killed and 387,000 injured in 2011 in accidents involving distracted drivers , he said . The new guidelines , which came after months of review , give automakers guidance about a wide range of electronic equipment installed in new automobiles , but considered `` secondary '' to the job of driving . They include communications devices , such as hands-free phones , navigation equipment , such as GPS units , entertainment devices , such as DVD movie players , and information gathering devices , such as internet-enabled devices . The technology advances are crucial selling points , especially for passenger cars , sport utilities , pickups and vans made by U.S. automakers . LaHood had met previously with car executives to express his overall concerns about distracted driving and to discuss ways to reduce it . The guidelines do not apply to hand-held cell phones , the use of which the DOT has long discouraged . A separate guideline is being developed for those phones and all other after-market and portable devices . LaHood and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief David Strickland said a new NHTSA study showed that `` visual-manual tasks '' associated with hand-held phones and other portable devices increase the risk of getting into a crash by three times . Researches used video-cameras to study 204 drivers for an average 31 days . The study showed that drivers talked on a cell phone 10.6 percent of the time the vehicle was in operation . The new guidelines seek to separate devices which assist in driving from those which might distract from it . They explicitly allow static or moving maps found on GPS navigation devices , with information that assists the driver . But it recommends against imagery such as photorealistic , satellite or three-dimensional images . The guidelines recommend that devices be designed so that tasks can be completed by the driver with glances away from the roadway of two seconds or less and a cumulative period of 12 seconds or less , in a series of 1.5 second glances . The DOT is recommending the auto industry adopt the changes in the next three years for all cars , trucks and buses weighing up to 10,000 pounds . It has exempted police , fire , the military and other emergency vehicles . It says the guidelines are voluntary -- instead of mandatory -- because of the `` need for additional research on distraction and its effects on driving '' and because of the rapid changes in technology .
U.S. asks automakers to equip cars with electronics that require only a glance to operate . Distracted driving is top priority for Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood . DOT says texting and Web browsing should be allowed only when vehicle is stopped and in park . Score: 6