Study finds that buttons in cars are safer and quicker to use than touchscreens

Well phones typically have physical buttons for things you want to do quickly (volume rocker, power, camera shutter, home (sometimes) etc.) when you may not be expected to be looking at the phone. They seem to understand the split.

A driver has only a few things they need to do while driving (beyond paying attention to the road) Menu diving to turn up the AC is just a fundamentally terrible idea, but car makers don't seem to care?

I saw a recent Marques Brownlee review of his $130k Tesla S and Every. Single. Control. in the interior is a capacitive button. Absolutely insane to offer no tactile feedback

https://youtu.be/34VZzBWBDN0

Should you be doing many more things while having a phone call? Turns out the concept of a phone changed.

It seems the concept of cars also change:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X9XyHHTTQI

I watched this in the morning today, and in the 38 minute ride, the guy was mostly doing other things. Recording a video etc. In the whole ride, I think he only did something related to "driving" for a few seconds.

What about, programmable buttons? Seems like a happy medium?

I would love to see some EU legislation about car dashboards. As an occasional driver of many different brands and types of vehicles, I continue to be amazed at the usability crimes being committed in the name of 'looking cool' (stated reason) as well as 'cost savings' (most likely the real reason).

Any function that needs to be invoked or setting that needs to be changed by a reasonable person while driving should have dedicated hardware in a predictable position. So, that's direction indicators, outside lights (incl. high beams and fog lights), windshield wipers, cruise control, window defrost/defog, interior temperature/fan, media volume (am I forgetting anything?).

There is nothing more utterly annoying and outright dangerous than having to navigate some crappy touchscreen when your windows start fogging up or you need to turn off the radio in order to talk to that nice cop that just pulled you over.

Offenders here do not only include the T-brand, but also the B-brand, which has seen it fit to replace most of the controls in some of its cars with a single multi-function stalk (iDrive, I think?) that isn't good for anything, except as a reason to return your car for a refund...

> Should you be doing many more things while having a phone call? Turns out the concept of a phone changed.

Being distracted during a phone call doesn't pose a risk of grievous injuries or death to yourself or others. Unless the nature of cars fundamentally changes, they should not under any circumstances be cool entertainment devices. Your focus should be on your mirrors and the road ahead. Full stop.