Despite criticism from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, General Motors continues to carry forward with a new OnStar application that allows drivers to listen to Facebook messages as well as update their status. In recent years, LaHood has worked to reduce the problem of distracted driving, and has specifically disapproved of the idea of letting drivers have audio access to social media sites like Facebook. He feels that this OnStar app. is the “biggest distraction of them all” , and that the government should “go further” to focus on driving safety. He has proposed that all states should have a law banning texting behind the wheel and that Congress should pass a comprehensive distracted driving law.

OnStar President Chris Preuss said the company is confident in the safety of the feature after conducting driving tests and has no plans to drop it. “Not only is it safe — all things relative in the vehicle — it’s actually a benign activity,” Preuss said. GM has found that the number of airbag deployments was lower during the activation of hands-free calls than during other types of driving.

GM hasn’t yet offered the new feature to all of OnStar’s subscribers. The hands-free feature is being tested mainly by GM employees and some customers who have 2008 or newer GM models.