Touch screen's in Cars Yes/No?

[winjim]

I don't see what point you are making here, maybe you could explain?

You are right to say it is not the vehicle's fault though, it is human nature and the results can be catastrophic! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-53684476

If the technology is there and the opportunity to use it is remains then people will, by their very nature, be foolish, reckless, selfish enough to use it. The authorities and manufacturers should prevent the situation from existing.

Phones are like a drug, literally. It's that little hit of dopamine when you get a message or a notification. All those people saying it's easy to just not look at your phone are kidding themselves. If I hear my phone buzz while I'm driving, or even if I've just been shitposting and want to see if anyone's responded, I get a real urge to look at it. I never actually do, but I understand what leads other people to.

 

[Profpointy]

I'm in the rare position of having in the household 2 generations of the same car, both highly specced, one with conventional controls and one with touchscreen.

The screen has greater functionality in the sense that you can play your music through it, it incorporates the sat nav, even web surfing, etc. On the other hand, a lot of that functionality is guff - who on earth needs their text messages read aloud to them by the car while they're driving?

Without a doubt the older car with conventional controls is easier, simpler, and less distracting to use. There is absolutely no doubt whatsoever about that. None. Changing fan speed requires a turn of a knob. Activating wipers requires an instinctive nudge of the index finger. Both of these things - and much more - can be done instantly and then forgotten about, without any need to take eyes and attention from the road. The same functions on a touchscreen both take longer, but also require the driver to loom at something other than the road ahead. Dress it up any way you like, but placing critical function on a touchscreen and, even worse, burying them several menus down is a triumph if technology over common sense.

Drago, old dinosaur he may well be, yet yet again hits nail squarely on the head.

 

[Smokin Joe]

I want a well engineered car that is comfortable to drive, reasonably quick and economical. I am perfectly capable of pulling a handbrake lever, flicking a few switches for lights, wipers and heater controls. I know how to cadence brake, how to pull away without losing traction and how far I need to be from the vehicle in front to avoid rear ending it. I do not want to sub contract those skills to a pile of electronic junk neither do I want a load of high tech gadgets that are only there for the sake of it and cost the earth when they go wrong.

 

[tyred]

Where does the airbag pop out from?

I taped a football to the steering wheel boss

 

[tyred]

Why can't the car manufacturer lock the touch screen whilst the car is in motion so the driver can't play with it to adjust the brightness of the interior light or something equally as pointless?

 

[Rusty Nails]

I have seen many accidents over the years I have been driving, many of these involved drivers staring at people on the pavement, should these be banned.

Should which be banned? Pavements, people on them, or drivers staring at them?

Or should manufacturers stop making cars with side windows?

Totally irrelevant response.

P.S. Staring at people on pavements while driving, as opposed to glancing at them, constitutes driving without due care and attention, and would be treated as an offence, particularly if it caused an accident. So yes, it is already banned.

 

[slowmotion]

I want a well engineered car that is comfortable to drive, reasonably quick and economical. I am perfectly capable of pulling a handbrake lever, flicking a few switches for lights, wipers and heater controls. I know how to cadence brake, how to pull away without losing traction and how far I need to be from the vehicle in front to avoid rear ending it. I do not want to sub contract those skills to a pile of electronic junk neither do I want a load of high tech gadgets that are only there for the sake of it and cost the earth when they go wrong.

Quite.
You can feel for a few knobs and switches without taking your eyes off the road. Consumer electronics are so cheap now that it costs pennies to add all sorts of entirely useless functions to touch screen gadgets, functions that you'll be searching for in the menu while you drift into a motorway bridge pillar at 85mph, taking somebody else's life with you.

…...and don't get me on the subject of "Smart" motorways...…...

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Why can't the car manufacturer lock the touch screen whilst the car is in motion so the driver can't play with it to adjust the brightness of the interior light or something equally as pointless?

They can it's simple to do BUT! Our Rav Radio/Sat Nav detects movement from the ABS unit & stops you using the Sat Nav, but as it is also a radio/CD it allows you to change channels etc.

However it now appears from posts that the Tesla & Volvo allow you to do far more whilst driving, I also presume many more makes do as well. I could understand a pseudo switch on a display to switch something on/off, even possibly a slider on the screen to speed the heater fan up/down, you can glance sideways, see where the slider is, then whilst still looking forward increase the fan speed. But to have to navigate into a submenu to find it would be distracting, Car > Interior > Comfort > Heating > Fan > Fan Speed, no idea if that actually happens

 

[Drago]

You're actually more or less correct for fan speed. It requires considerable interaction - and therefore attention and time - to locate it in the menus adjust it, and then look back at the road and require the sight-picture. Tesla is much the same. On the Tesla the wipers are the same - they require considerable diversion of visual attention and mental processing to operate.

I'm still waiting for the pro-screeners to explain how that is not less safe than turning a knob which, at worst, requires a fraction of that time to locate and adjust...or flicking a lever with the tip of the index finger which keeps both hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road? Instead of simply detracting, I would like them to explain by what means the touchscreens are at least as safe as conventional controls.

I think any sane person would agree that anything that takes a drivers attention from the task of making safe progress is bad, and the longer and more intensely it does this is for the worse it is in that regard. This being the case, how can touch screens not be more dangerous to use?

 

[icowden]

Tesla is much the same. On the Tesla the wipers are the same - they require considerable diversion of attention to operate

They really don't. I've driven one. The wipers are automatic or manual start (you can choose). There is a button which can trigger extra wipes and voice control if you really really need to change the setting, which you shouldn't have to do. The car also can drive itself without crashing (there is no mention of it being on autopilot when the guy was fiddling with his screen).

Other options in heavy rain are to slow down. Unfortunately the Tesla is not yet idiot proof but they are trying. It has more driver aids than just about any other car in existence, but the driver used none of them.Yet somehow it is the Tesla's fault for having a touchscreen, rather than the idiot's fault for being an idiot.

And no, I am not on commission, but don't you think it's odd that any driving news story about a Tesla immediately blames the car? This doesn't happen with any other brand. On the flip side Tesla use a neural net to control the wipers based on the Tesla vision system rather than using a rain sensor. They released a major update to this in November 2019 which suggests that there were prior concerns about the efficacy of the wiper system. They have also patented an alternative wiper system using electromagnets rather than the traditional wiper, suggesting that they are planning to innovate.

 

[Fab Foodie]

They really don't. I've driven one. The wipers are automatic or manual start (you can choose). There is a button which can trigger extra wipes and voice control if you really really need to change the setting, which you shouldn't have to do. The car also can drive itself without crashing (there is no mention of it being on autopilot when the guy was fiddling with his screen).

Other options in heavy rain are to slow down. Unfortunately the Tesla is not yet idiot proof but they are trying. It has more driver aids than just about any other car in existence, but the driver used none of them.Yet somehow it is the Tesla's fault for having a touchscreen, rather than the idiot's fault for being an idiot.

And no, I am not on commission, but don't you think it's odd that any driving news story about a Tesla immediately blames the car? This doesn't happen with any other brand. On the flip side Tesla use a neural net to control the wipers based on the Tesla vision system rather than using a rain sensor. They released a major update to this in November 2019 which suggests that there were prior concerns about the efficacy of the wiper system. They have also patented an alternative wiper system using electromagnets rather than the traditional wiper, suggesting that they are planning to innovate.

I think most of the debate here is about car Touchscreens in general, not the specifics of Tesla, though as they are at the forefront of this aspect of car design it's no surprise this gets highlighted....

 

[Deleted member 26715]

And no, I am not on commission, but don't you think it's odd that any driving news story about a Tesla immediately blames the car?

Nobody here is blaming "the car" from what I read, what we are questioning is is the suitability of touch screens as a replacement for switches/knobs. It just happens that on this occasion the driver was distracted by the touchscreen in a Tesla, however it could just as easily been the Volvo that has been mentioned, or presumably any other vehicle with a touchscreen, whether it would have gone global had it not been a Tesla is a whole other topic.

You clearly believe there is nothing wrong with multilevel touchscreens in a vehicle travelling up a Motorway at 70mph but have yet failed to convince the rest of us, would you like another try?

 

[icowden]

Nobody here is blaming "the car" from what I read,

The press wording tends to be blaming the car design rather than the idiot in charge of the car.

You clearly believe there is nothing wrong with multilevel touchscreens in a vehicle travelling up a Motorway at 70mph but have yet failed to convince the rest of us, would you like another try?

It's a red herring. I've said it several times. There is no need to use a multilevel touchscreen when driving a Tesla.
So therefore as you don't have to use them, there isn't a problem. It isn't that a stick control is better. It's just different and it would be a retrograde step for a device that is trying to change the way people use vehicles. The end point is important.

 

[HMS_Dave]

They really don't. I've driven one. The wipers are automatic or manual start (you can choose). There is a button which can trigger extra wipes and voice control if you really really need to change the setting, which you shouldn't have to do. The car also can drive itself without crashing (there is no mention of it being on autopilot when the guy was fiddling with his screen).

Other options in heavy rain are to slow down. Unfortunately the Tesla is not yet idiot proof but they are trying. It has more driver aids than just about any other car in existence, but the driver used none of them.Yet somehow it is the Tesla's fault for having a touchscreen, rather than the idiot's fault for being an idiot.

And no, I am not on commission, but don't you think it's odd that any driving news story about a Tesla immediately blames the car? This doesn't happen with any other brand. On the flip side Tesla use a neural net to control the wipers based on the Tesla vision system rather than using a rain sensor. They released a major update to this in November 2019 which suggests that there were prior concerns about the efficacy of the wiper system. They have also patented an alternative wiper system using electromagnets rather than the traditional wiper, suggesting that they are planning to innovate.

Autopilot is not autonomy. That is a misuse of the system, even by Teslas own admission as you're still supposed to have full attention at all times. Besides you seem to be ignoring that experts who have conducted tests in multiple countries from different organisations including university's have pretty much unanimously agreed touchscreens in all cars are distracting and are reducing reaction times.

 

[I like Skol]

It's a red herring. I've said it several times. There is no need to use a multilevel touchscreen when driving a Tesla.

This is a red herring. Putting interactive tech and touchscreens into vehicles is a danger. Kind of like giving an alcoholic a bottle of whisky to look after. They don't have to drink it.....