Unsafe Car Feature
 

In today's Daily Sun, auto section--there was a column about touch screens on cars

The author feels they are unsafe, because the driver must take their eyes off the road in oder to operate certain features such as radio and a/c

Its amazing some states will give a driver a ticket for texting while driving but not for fiddling a touch screen

In my opinion there is not real difference--its distracted driving

The author advise is to tell a dealer , "you would buy their car if it didn't have a touch screen"

I agree. When you use the touchscreen you have to go through several screens to do something you used to do with a single dial. It is nice for navigation but unsafe for everything else.

I have a 2013 Dodge Dart, and a 2017 Ford Escape. Both have touch screens that I never use. Both have voice command features that allow me to use phone, nav, radio, etc., without taking my eyes off the road. There is a way around touch screens.

Is it not just a matter of degree/time?
Compared to turning the old dials, buttons, slides for setting a/c, radio, answering the phone, reading (anything), eating, taking/putting back a drink container, etc.

The touch screen is just today's variant.
They are all/have been/continue to be distractions.

My car allows all functions to be done using voice commands. And, the touch screen can only be used for simple tasks while the car is in motion. For example, you cannot type anything on the keyboard when the car is moving.

Thanks to this Public Service Announcement, I shall never again look at my speedometer, gas gauge, temp gauge, rear view mirror, or any other distraction that requires me to take my eyes off the road.

Depends on the vehicle, location and size of the screen, and how well the company engineered the user interface. Some engineer certain functions to be redundant where they can be done by touch screen, manual buttons and dials, and/or even steering wheel controls and some even by voice command if you take the time to learn how to use the voice command function - many do not. My Ram pickup has all of that functionality. I admit I almost never use the voice commands, but I commonly use the steering wheel controls to change radio volume or change stations, but I can also do that by turning the volume knob or through the touch screen. I can't control my climate control features from the steering wheel but I can with manual buttons or through the touch screen. On top of all of that, my touch screen is over 8" in size and is at the very top center where I don't have to completely look away from the road to see it. Sitting up high, as I do in a 4x4 pickup, I am amazed at how many people I pass on the road that have a cell phone in their hands, obviously texting or even emailing or probably even looking at facebook. I don't think the touch screen features on newer vehicles are anywhere near as big a problem. You would think this is isolated to younger people that were born with smartphones in their hands, but I see just as many "grownups" that should certainly know better. It's that human nature thing that makes people feel like those things will never happen to them.

The use of a co-pilot can not only handle the touch screen but remind the pilot to keep his/her eyes on the road.

:a20:

I tend to look at auto reviews and see what the reviewer liked or disliked. There have been several articles in the last 1 to 2 years about these displays. In many cases the reviewer complained that the touch screen buttons were hard to operate without looking at the screen, think about the "mayhem" TV commercial. The last new car I bought I specifically told the dealer I did NOT want the high end electronics package, as I like button and knobs. I know this car so well I can change the temperature, change the radio, even change the input to the radio without the need to look at the controls. The same goes for the steering wheels controls, which I know by feel. I use a separate GPS with FREE lifetime map updates, and position it by the drivers side pillar, in this location you are still looking towards the road when you glance at the GPS. Note I have friends that were charged over $300 to have the maps updated in their touch screen car systems.
All of this is a matter of taste, and familiarity with the vehicle, so if you are happy with your touch screen, that is fine, by as for me, if the vehicle requires use of a touch screen for basic operations (A/C, radio, temperature control, etc.) it is off my list for a new car.

The actual best auto reviews--originate out of Australia, look up Auto Expert on youtube--very enlightening--the reviewer has a potty mouth-but he is for real

Get with the late 20th Century. Touch screens, pads and Heads Up Displays are the way to go. Look at any modern jet fighter/bomber aircraft. This "Hi-Tech' is easier to operate and maintain, says the retired Electronics Engineer. My next car will have automatic everything. Next we will finally have self driving cars.

Our cars have damn near everything, safety wise-but I don't have to look at a screen to make them function, collision alert, auto braking, distance keeping, blind spot, 360 degree camera, auto parking,lane keeping, driver alert , pre-safe--might have left something out

Bingo. I had to chuckle as I envision the laughter as one of the "we don't like progress or change" generation tells the salesperson he wants roll up windows instead of electric.
Once the "can't take change" generation is no longer driving, we can move on without all the hand-wringing.

I think progress is great, but I think we must realize that there is price to pay for everything...
Kind of like the Yin and Yang of life.
I recall before television families spent more time together.
Before electronic calculators more peple could count,
and before cell phones and texting people communicated
one on one with each other more frequently,
and didn’t drive while texting.
We split the atom, and on one hand a good thing, but now we have concerns about nuclear holocaust.

While we're at it, let's not forget:

- Before electricity, everyone went to bed early instead of staying up watching TV or playing on the internet....and got a good night's sleep on their bug infested mattresses.

- Before the railroad and automobile, people weren't able to easily interact with different people & cultures...and be poisoned by new experiences and/or ideas.

- Before the wheel was invented, humans were in better shape...because of moving things around with only their muscles.


That danged technology...has ruined us. :oops:

Touchscreens require more attention than dials as you sometimes have to go through multiple screens to do a task whereas the dials are always in the same place.

If you have to take your eyes off the road to operate your windows, windshield washers, headlights--your car wasn't designed for the driver--in Germany cars don't come with cup holders-it takes @ least $1500.00 in courses and @ least 6 months before you can get your license

Farfegnugen !


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There are many, many, members of the generation that you speak of reading this who don't fit this description.

Fahrvernuegen!

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The so called "can't take change generation" is a figment of the current generation's outlook. When the current generation becomes the past generation they to will become set in their ways......they could even be labeled as "the can't take change generation"....by someone younger!!!!!!!

No, No, No, it's FahverNuckyen! You were both close though. I remember this word being used for the VW commercials that it meant for your driving pleasure? :gc:

If i had it to do all over again I would of just kept my first, second car, and my first truck. I could repair anything that would of went wrong with them and look at all the money I would of saved not buying the other 38!

Yours is the German, mine the English variant.


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I still have trouble setting the clock.

A good idea would be to read your owner's manual, but most people don't bother!:shrug:

You know I agree with the person that said use the voice command. But I have been in cars where you make a voice command & it will say something completely different, then that gets frustrating. But as far as anything else in your car like radio, heater, AC, ect. ect. These things have been in cars since cars were made, so that's going a little over board with the distraction thing. We never made an issue about being distracted until cell phone have been popular & cell phone have become a little computer. Some people try to play games while driving, don't laugh I've seen this 2 times here in TV. But yes there's a lot of distractions in a car. Maybe that's why our insurance rates keep going up & up.

:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl: FahverNuckyen

Why the sarcasm. It is a concern.

They kinda forgot I was not the author of the article in the Daily Sun-remember distracted driving of a golf cart was a factor in the death of a woman walking in the villages--the driver was looking @ the white line and not ahead

No worries - soon you'll be able to read your touchscreen, newspaper, etc. while traveling in a car - I saw the Autonomous Bus driving around Gainesville last week - worked perfectly, a person was sitting by the controls, ready to take over if there were any problems - there were no problems. It took it's little circuit around the interior of the city and went back to base, several times, with no malfunctions. The future is HERE - it's not science fiction. So, that will get around the distracted driver issue (unless the Autonomous Vehicle gets distracted? Well, anything's possible).

Truth be told it is not a refusal to adapt to new technology but not seeing the need for it since most trips are really short distances. Although I am intrigued by some of the new automated safety features, I Have zero interest in things like touch screens. I have a 20 year old golf cart and 9 & 10 year old cars which look and perform like they were new. I hardly feel deprived. Just the opposite.

My German SUV has two cup holders, they make them differently in Germany?

One is for the cup, the other for the bottle. Had this on my old Mercedes.

Do you not see the irony in what you are saying? Having to read a manual to set a clock does not sound like it is symplifying my life.

Touch Screens
 

Hi in response to the touch screen, the cell phone the drinking and driving?????

It seems in Florida all of that is fine as long as it is a money making anomaly.
Sad very sad.
:MOJE_whot:

:MOJE_whot:

Even more ironic, is saying that a person who eschews reading instruction manuals (and the resultant aggravation of trial & error)...expects a 'simplification of their lives.' :oops: