Feed: Slashdot
Feed Link: https://slashdot.org/
---

Title: Why Your Car's Touchscreen Is More Dangerous Than Your Phone

Link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/06/22/0044...

"Modern vehicles have quietly become rolling monuments to terrible user
experience, trading intuitive physical controls for flashy but dangerous
touchscreen interfaces," argues the site Cars & Horsepower, decrying "an
industry-wide plague of poorly designed digital dashboards that demand more
attention from drivers than the road itself." The consequences are measurable
and severe: studies now show touchscreen vehicles require up to four times
longer to perform basic functions than their button-equipped counterparts,
creating a distracted driving crisis that automakers refuse to acknowledge. A
Swedish car magazine, Vi Bil�gare, conducted a study [in 2022] comparing how
long it takes drivers to perform basic tasks like adjusting climate controls
or changing the radio station using touchscreens versus traditional physical
buttons. The results showed that in the worst-performing modern car, it took
drivers up to four times longer to complete these tasks compared to an older
vehicle with physical controls... Even after allowing drivers time to
familiarize themselves with each system, touchscreen-equipped cars
consistently required more time and attention, which could translate into
increased distraction and reduced safety on the road.... A seminal 2019 study
from the University of Utah found drivers using touchscreens exhibited: - 30%
longer reaction times to road hazards - Significantly higher cognitive
workload (as measured by pupil dilation) - More frequent and longer glances
away from the road The reason lies in proprioception - our body's ability to
sense its position in space. Physical controls allow for muscle memory
development; drivers can locate and manipulate buttons without looking.
Touchscreens destroy this capability, forcing visual confirmation for every
interaction. Even haptic feedback (those little vibrations mimicking physical
buttons) fails to solve the problem, as demonstrated by a 2022 AAA study
showing haptic systems offered no safety improvement over standard
touchscreens... A study from Drexel University introduced a system called
[Distract-R](), which uses cognitive modeling to simulate how drivers
interact with in-vehicle interfaces. It found that multi-step touchscreen
tasks increase cognitive load, diverting attention from the road more than
physical buttons.... Furthermore, a systematic review on driver distraction
in the context of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and Automated
Driving Systems (ADS) highlights that even with automation, drivers remain
vulnerable to distraction, especially when interacting with complex
interfaces... There's also software reliability issues (even before the issue
of "feature paywalls". But some manufacturers are going back, according to
the article. "After receiving widespread criticism, Porsche added physical
climate controls back to the Taycan's center console. Nissan's latest
concepts feature prominent physical buttons for common functions..." And
Mazda eliminated touch capability entirely while moving, "forcing use of a
physical control knob... The system reduces glance time by 15% compared to
touch interfaces while maintaining all modern infotainment functionality."
The article recommends consumers prioritize physical controls when vehicle
shopping, seeking out models with buttons. But there's also "aftermarket
solutions," with companies like Analog Automotive "developing physical
control panels that interface with popular infotainment systems, bringing
back tactile operation." Another option: voice commands (like on GM's latest
systems). "Ultimately, the solution requires consumer pushback against
dangerous interface trends.... The road deserves our full attention, not
divided focus between driving and debugging a poorly designed tablet on
wheels." Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 for sharing the article.


Read more of this story at Slashdot.

---
VRSS v2.1.180528