In-car touchscreen systems are coming under scrutiny from the Government’s motorway authority amid concerns about drivers being distracted while on the road.
“We don’t like them from a safety perspective,” he added.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
According to European Commission estimates, between 10% and 30% of road accidents are the result of driver distraction.
Although there is little proof of a link between crashes and use of in-car touchscreens, the move towards swapping button-covered dashboards for touch panels is causing concerns among both motorists and regulators.
Tesla’s electric cars are among the growing number of models featuring touchscreen-dependent cabins, with almost every setting for the vehicles housed in large panels that dominate the centre console.
Volkswagen Group brands are also beginning to move over to touchscreens. The Audi Q8, for instance, only has a handful of buttons on the steering wheel to control the car’s infotainment settings, along with a single dial for adjusting the radio volume.
Toronto-based product designer Jacky Li has conducted a small study into the potential effects of this industry-wide shift, after noticing that his Uber driver was distracted by the touch panel in his Tesla Model X, says connected technologies news site GearBrain.
In a blog post, Li reports that when the study participants were seated in a driving simulator with a smartphone representing a touchscreen infotainment system, they would “routinely glance over to see if there was anything new to look at”.
And while voice-activated systems such as Amazon’s Alexa allow users to adjust settings while keeping their eyes on the road, Li believes these services put “a lot of cognitive stress on the user”.
He concludes: “Aesthetics should never trump usability, especially for products that could put people’s lives in danger.”
-
Should you add your child to your credit card?The Explainer You can make them an authorized user on your account in order to help them build credit
-
Cracker Barrel crackup: How the culture wars are upending corporate brandingIn the Spotlight Is it 'woke' to leave nostalgia behind?
-
'It's hard to discern what it actually means'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
EV market slowdown: a bump in the road for Tesla?Talking Points The electric vehicle market has stalled – with worrying consequences for carmakers
-
Volkswagen ID.5 review: what the car critics sayFeature The ID.4's 'sportier, more stylish twin' – but 'don't believe the hype'
-
VW ID Buzz review: what the car critics sayfeature The new ID Buzz electric van is a modern successor to Volkswagen’s beloved Type 2
-
VW Polo GTI review: what the car critics sayfeature The new Polo GTI is refined, roomy and easy to drive
-
VW Multivan review: what the car critics sayfeature Not much bigger than a normal car, it’s easy to park and a cinch to drive
-
Volkswagen Golf R Estate review: what the car critics sayfeature Four-wheel drive is ‘impressively smooth’ but still flawed
-
Volkswagen Golf R Mk8 2021: spy shots, plus specs, price and UK releaseIn Depth Souped-up hatchback is spotted for the first time while testing in South Africa
-
Volkswagen ID.4 2021: first image, plus battery range, release and priceThe Week Recommends German car giant’s second mass-production EV set to take on Tesla Model Y
