BURLINGTON, Mass. -- A local company has developed a way to help drivers keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel.

NewsCenter 5's Jim Boyd reported that more drivers are allowing technology to distract them in their cars.

Initially, cell phones were a significant distraction, but now add to the list global positioning devices, MP3 players, PDAs and phones that send text messages and e-mails.

"Consumers are using them and trying to get all the value of the features out of these things while they're doing whatever they want to do, sometimes means driving around in a car," said Peter Mahoney, of Nuance Communications, Inc.

Mahoney's company makes speech recognition software that is available in many cars, specifically aimed at those drivers who feel they must multitask while on the road.

"You can do it all with your voice, so you can keep your eyes very focused on the road the entire time," Mahoney said.

Mahoney said the speech recognition technology makes very complicated tasks much easier and, therefore, less distracting and safer.

"When you get to things that involve entering in information and searching for information, or typing on a keyboard, those kind of things can be quite dangerous. So speech technology comes in these areas where it allows the driver to focus on the road, hands on the wheel, and they can enter in text either by navigating through menus or entering in a text message just by using their voice," Mahoney said.

Mahoney said available technology currently allows some phones to read the messages aloud, and soon, car technology will do the same.