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

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

#283

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 h…

In the Tesla FSD video[0] the driver spent a lot of time swiping back and forth on the map. If that touchscreen were an iPad, that behaviour would be illegal in the UK. I don't know what the road law is in the US, and if they sell the same Tesla model in the UK. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34268454

As with most things in the US, it varies by state. For the past five years or so, it has been illegal in Georgia for a driver to use a phone or tablet that is not set in a mount attached to the vehicle. Other states have adopted similar laws but not every state has and the details vary between states that do have such laws.

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

#284

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 h…

> (am I forgetting anything?).

Window elevators. Butt heater. Trip counter. Warning blinkers. Horn.

That might be it?

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

#285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 This is exaggerated and inaccurate. I have a recent BMW and it has numerous physical controls for climate, radio and various settings like auto-hold or disable engine auto-stop/start. The mul…

Ok, but don't you agree that touchscreen controls look very cheap compared to real knobs? Shouldn't that be a factor too, especially in higher end cars?

I prefer real, tactile buttons and knobs, but from a visual aspect alone, you can definitely have too many buttons. https://rennlist.com/forums/attachments/997-turbo-forum/1136...

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

#286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, thank you for mentioning digital dashboards, I completely forgot about those! So, in addition to mandatory physical controls for common functions, my imaginary EU legislation would also prescribe that all essential vehicle information (speed, outside light status, fuel level) has a physical representation (lights, dials, etc., in the sense that there is nothing that could be described as 'software' driving these…

I like the dashboard in my 2014 Prius. The speedometer is digital numbers, which is great because I have trouble reading dials. Never had an issue with anything freezing up. Later Toyotas I’ve rented have full color screens. They work okay.

Anecdata and another case against center-dash touch control panels -which are integrated with control units.

Our 2013 Prius just had the center-dash unit crash likely due to the audio sub-system. And it would have burned but for a fuse blowing (replacing the fuse lead to smoking.) This took out the rear camera display along with climate controls, audio, ...

Fortunately someone at the Toyota shop we patronize had just replaced their same model year working unit with an iPad (hence learned that's a thing in the US even if illegal in the UK.) So what was going to be a ~$2,000 USD rebuilt unit (~$5,000 OEM new but a guy in town rebuilds them because there is apparently enough demand) was going to be less expensive.

Unfortunately, our Prius's unit seems to be unique to a particular finish/package for the model. And this particular unit type (a JBL variant) has connectors different from all other Toyota center console units.

Gist of the situation: failure of what is likely the audio section of the integrated center-dash unit took out rear camera, climate controls, audio, etc. with high price tag to repair when simple loss of audio unit would have been ignored.

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

#288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The last 'owned' car that I drove was my wife's quite-high-end Audi. It had a digital dashboard, which was OK and looked extremely cool... until those moments when..... So, wtf did you put up with all that (presuming it wasnt a company car)? And, even then, you should have a trail of paperwork a mile/ kilometre long to audi - publish all that.

I’ve had 2 Audis now with the virtual cockpit and literally never had an issue- this seems like something an Audi dealer would replace under warranty as defective right away.

Well, after 2 failed attempts at fixing under mandatory Lemon Law replacement of course :)

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

#289

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 h…

> am I forgetting anything?

Horn and hazard lights.

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

#290
"Study finds that leaning over to adjust the heating while driving is less quick and safe than twisting a button while keeping the eyes on the road ahead."

Sources please. This can't possibly be true, we need studies to back this up.

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