Are touch screens in cars dangerous?

[RobertArthur]

It has been quite some time since someone asked me to replace a faulty switch in an amplifier or sometimes in a car. Now they have been lying idle in a box for years, waiting for better times.

They have been overtaken by modern technology: everything you can think of in terms of essential functions and extra safety features in a modern car is hidden behind a multi-layered menu system. You are not allowed to look at your smartphone on pain of a hefty fine, but on a screen as big as on a 14, 15 or 17 inch laptop, it's no problem at all.

And don't we have a saying here in France: « Au volant, la vue c'est la vie ». Look ahead, look around you, because that's where it happens.

Because everything has to be safer and the promise of technology is that only the application of the latest techniques can increase road safety, promises that are blindly accepted by the authorities, it is beginning to look as if the opposite is being achieved: more dangerous than alcohol. That's aside from another question: don't all those inevitable high-tech costs lead to cutbacks on the quality of traditional mechanical car parts? That doesn't seem to be entirely in line with all kinds of green ideas about sustainability.

Right, morning rant over, yes, I know, new old news. Prompted by reading an article in The Economist that had a nice follow-up here.

[Lori]

You are not allowed to look at your smartphone on pain of a hefty fine, but on a screen as big as on a 14, 15 or 17 inch laptop, it's no problem at all.

I have always thought the "TV" screens in cars were/are a dangerous distraction. I can't stand them.

[curtis]

I have just had a voiture de courtoisie. Citroën C4.
Automatic. That was a good start; I dislike them.
Electric hand brake.
Virtually everything via the screen. Not a switch or button in sight.
And the worst, a flashing light and warning sounding if you deviate from the centre of the road.
And it corrects the steering.
Speed limit excesses are beeped loudly.
That is not driving to me it's being present in the car that's about all.
I went out for a run in the TR3A to recover.
The Citroën will stay in the drive until the repairs to the Kuga are finished.

[RobertArthur]

@ Curtis, that reminds me of a journey I made as a passenger with someone who offered me a lift after a wedding. We drove out of a small town: twice, the driver almost turned into a street that had been dug up for roadworks. The driver relied on his satnav directions. He didn't see it, right in front of him, but I called him to order just in time. Fifty kilometres further on, the satnav thought it knew the shortest route on a stretch of road that I used to drive almost every day at the time. Sorry, but I've known the shortest route for decades, and Auntie/Uncle Satnav is completely wrong. It took some persuasion to get him to take the route I suggested...

Someone else who had more than earned his marks designing shortwave equipment and later specially coded protocols (Frequency Hopping Spread Frequency) for a rather classified military communication infrastructure confessed the following to me, after he had been given a brand new Mercedes lease car. Robert, someone sat next to me for about an hour, almost a white-coated doctor or priest, who tried to explain all the secrets of the touch panel to me. To be honest, after fifteen minutes I could remember very little of it... His wife made one attempt to take a ride in the shiny brand new Merc. Her comment: once but never again. All those constantly flashing (alarm?) lights and warning beeps were driving me crazy.

Early signs of progress in automotive innovation....

[Blaze]

Virtually everything via the screen. Not a switch or button in sight.
And the worst, a flashing light and warning sounding if you deviate

I saw something about that on the TV the other night. No more stalks that you could tweak without your eyes leaving the road. I think they will be the cause of a lot of accidents in the future. Perhaps they have been designed with driverless cars in mind .... quelle horreur

I came back from a motorbike race with our boss the other evening. It was absolutely chucking it down. We were in a sort of tranny van towing a sort of beach buggy. The dual carriageway has a 110 limit. We were doing well over that ....... and I couldn't believe it when he picked up his phone and started sending a text Not only is he the boss, but he's a police officer ......
Yes, he's a very good driver but ............

[widge]

I am not against new technology, but totaly agree that any normal controls that you need to operate while driving should remain phisical.

We recently had a hirecar and as we drove away discovered that the A/C was far too cold, all was controlled via the screen, luckily jane was with me, and managed to work out the menu system to turn it off.

Again with a hirecar while on holiday i was continually hitting the speed beep overide, you may say I shouldn't have been speeding, but it was going off when you were only a few kms/h over the limit, in traffic you often drift slightly over, and on dual carrageways through town with 110km + limit, it was going off every time we went over or under a more minor road with 50km/h limit, I also noticed the same with passing sliproads with reduced speed limits, it took me a while to work out what was happening and was extremely distracting.

Secondly it had lane control vibration through the steering wheel, that was less anoying until on the more minor roads it started picking up road repairs that were also in a long line, and narrow roads that you automatically cross any line when there is no oncoming traffic. It took me a while to do, but did manage to change the settings so it only gave me visual indication on the dash, rather than the beeps and vibrations. But next time I was in the car it all reverted back to the default

[Blaze]

We've turned off all the annoying beeps and the lane changing vibrator. If you want to stop the car reverting to default, you have to do the adjustments while stopped with the engine running.
There have been some complaints recently about the automatic braking cutting in for no apparent reason, causing the car behind to crash into the braking car. It happened to me once on a small country lane when there was no-one about - it was very scary. I can only imagine the sensor had a speck on it. This can be turned off but it is strongly recommended not to do so.

[Hotrodder]

Are touch screens in cars dangerous?
Damn right they are. There has already been so much negative comment about them from drivers that a couple of the big manufacturers (I forget which ones) have already curtailed their plans to eliminate analogue controls altogether in favour of touch screens with multiple menus. Instead, they are offering a mix of screen functions for gps and less frequently needed controls and leaving conventional knobs, buttons, and stalks to be used without taking eyes off the road.
Like they used to say to the kids, "Just say NO!" If nobody buys this crap they will stop selling it. They only do it because it is cheaper to use a chip than to fit a dozen electromechanical devices.

[RobertArthur]

To make matters worse, lots of alarming articles in the German press. One of the recent headlines: " Erratic driver assistance systems. When the car suddenly brakes on its own at 200 km/h. Driver assistance systems are supposed to improve safety, but drivers report dangerous ‘phantom braking’ and other malfunctions. One manufacturer indirectly admits that the technology is not yet fully developed."

[widge]

Do the germans still allow speeds of 125mph and more on their roads? I thought that they were reducing the amount of unrestricted roads.