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European crash tester says carmakers must bring back physical controls

arstechnica.com

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Re: European crash tester says carmakers must bring back physical controls

#431

Post by paganel »

sundvor wrote: post #237
modeless wrote: post #207

> Now, Euro NCAP is not insisting on everything being its own button or switch. But the organization wants to see physical controls for turn signals, hazard lights, windshield wipers, the horn, and any SOS features This is much more reasonable than I assumed. Unlike seemingly most people here I have no problem whatsoever with fan controls or audio controls or whatever on the touchscreen, as long as it is responsive (…

Tesla wiper? Just push the wiper button on the left stalk and you can cycle through the speed settings with the left funky switch (multi function button) in addition to the on screen display options that then pop up. Very easy to do. Also this: https://youtube.com/shorts/3eKcDOHVZWc?si=-jL4o4Bhu-2y0ibj Doesn't cover the left multi function button feature after short pressing the wiper button. (Model 3, 2022, Australi…

That's just lame, sorry to say it. I'll start with the end by saying that most probably voice command won't work in a downpour, for the simple reason that downpours are usually associated with lots of noise that will cancel out your voice commands. And all the other "options" involve taking your eyes off the road and looking at a big screen in order to adjust wiper speed, all this while there's a potential downpour happening. That is a very big no from me. And, no, "automatic" wipers never do their job perfectly when it comes do downpours, you always have to adjust them in one way or another.

Granted, that guy that posted it was from Australia so that they probably don't have that sort of downpour problem over there (the same goes for places in the US like California or Texas).

Re: European crash tester says carmakers must bring back physical controls

#432

Post by Maakuth »

heavyset_go wrote: post #407
Maakuth wrote: post #389

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And how much cheaper can this stuff really be than real buttons?

Can the buttons show you ads and upsell you on features?

That's just it - these are no more customizable than real buttons! They come with preprinted symbols for their function, so no cost advantage of customization.

Re: European crash tester says carmakers must bring back physical controls

#433

Post by andrepd »

modeless wrote: post #207

> Now, Euro NCAP is not insisting on everything being its own button or switch. But the organization wants to see physical controls for turn signals, hazard lights, windshield wipers, the horn, and any SOS features This is much more reasonable than I assumed. Unlike seemingly most people here I have no problem whatsoever with fan controls or audio controls or whatever on the touchscreen, as long as it is responsive (…

>I have no problem whatsoever with fan controls or audio controls or whatever on the touchscreen

Why? What's the difference? You fiddle with these as well while you're driving, and they're also dangerous and distracting.

Re: European crash tester says carmakers must bring back physical controls

#434

Post by kwhitefoot »

modeless wrote: post #207

> Now, Euro NCAP is not insisting on everything being its own button or switch. But the organization wants to see physical controls for turn signals, hazard lights, windshield wipers, the horn, and any SOS features This is much more reasonable than I assumed. Unlike seemingly most people here I have no problem whatsoever with fan controls or audio controls or whatever on the touchscreen, as long as it is responsive (…

> However, the absence of a physical speed control for the windshield wipers is the single worst design flaw of Teslas.

My 2015 Model S has a stalk with a rotary switch for wiper control that includes several automatic and manual modes and speeds.

But I was loaned a Model 3 when my Model S was being repaired and I hated it because most of the stalks had been removed making things like cruise control and the radio much more awkward to use.

Re: European crash tester says carmakers must bring back physical controls

#435

Post by generic92034 »

otherme123 wrote: post #381
generic92034 wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> While driving the most I might want to do is adjust the temperature, and since it's not safety critical I can choose a convenient time. That is good reasoning, but are you sure a high number of drivers are also waiting with adjustments, instead of fumbling on the screen while continuing to drive?

A lot of people send and read phone messages while driving. I highly doubt that same people gives a second thought before playing with the screen while driving, unless they are under a real stressing situation (pouring and twisted road at 2 AM).

Exactly. That is why physical buttons you can use without looking are so much better. For the perfect driver it does not matter so much, but that is a rare species.

Re: European crash tester says carmakers must bring back physical controls

#436

Post by [deleted] »

dchest wrote: post #416
donatj wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know Technology Connections complains about it all the time, but I don’t feel like he’s even made a case, he just asserts over and over “and we ALL agree it’s awful” as if he asserts it strongly enough it will become true. Why is it a problem? How is a red blinker actually measurably worse than an amber one? I have never had any sort of issue interpreting a blinking red taillight as turning? With red, you can more…

"A 2008 US study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggests vehicles with amber rear signals rather than red ones are up to 28% less likely to be involved in certain kinds of collisions,[81] a followup 2009 NHTSA study determined there to be a significant overall safety benefit to amber rather than red rear turn signals,[82] US studies in the early 1990s demonstrated improvements in the speed and…

[deleted]

Re: European crash tester says carmakers must bring back physical controls

#437

Post by [deleted] »

elif wrote: post #425
iforgotpassword wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But even then, how do you find the A/C or volume control on a touch screen without taking your eyes off the road, without accidentally touching something else? You just can't feel your way to the volume knob. Sure, you are a responsible driver and would only do that at a traffic light or other completely safe situation, but I don't know how many accidents touch controls in cars already caused with less responsible dr…

I know it will cost me karma to point it out, but in a Tesla you can use voice control to adjust your AC/radio/navigation while your eyes are on the road and your car's 10 eyes are on the road.

[deleted]

Re: European crash tester says carmakers must bring back physical controls

#439

Post by donatj »

dchest wrote: post #416
donatj wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know Technology Connections complains about it all the time, but I don’t feel like he’s even made a case, he just asserts over and over “and we ALL agree it’s awful” as if he asserts it strongly enough it will become true. Why is it a problem? How is a red blinker actually measurably worse than an amber one? I have never had any sort of issue interpreting a blinking red taillight as turning? With red, you can more…

"A 2008 US study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggests vehicles with amber rear signals rather than red ones are up to 28% less likely to be involved in certain kinds of collisions,[81] a followup 2009 NHTSA study determined there to be a significant overall safety benefit to amber rather than red rear turn signals,[82] US studies in the early 1990s demonstrated improvements in the speed and…

Whoever wrote that section of the Wikipedia page either didn’t read the cited documents or heavily cherry-picked.

The cited document for that “up to 28%” actually states that a first analysis found amber lights leading to a reduction in being struck “between 3 and 28%” Quite a range of uncertainty.

The very same document also states that in their second analysis they found no correlation between signal color and odds of being struck.

https://web.archive.org/web/20120712231313/http://www.nhtsa....

Another one of the cited documents goes so far as to say

> Richard Van Iderstine: We have studied the crash involvement of vehicles having yellow rear turn signal lights versus red ones. With our data, we have found it challenging to prove that yellow is better than red.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37484-2004No...

And yet another of the cited sources states

> Analyses revealed that there were no statistically significant differences in rear-end accident rates between the red and amber turn-signal systems.

https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/81...

—-

Based on the actual text of the citations I’m inclined to believe there’s very little difference.

And I don’t see how there could be. The only practical difference I see between a red signal and amber signal is that the signal might ever so briefly interpreted as a brake light activating before the first cycle completes. The course of action of the driver behind in either case is to slow down, so it’s a distinction without a difference in action.

Re: European crash tester says carmakers must bring back physical controls

#440

Post by mgoetzke »

LeoPanthera wrote: post #308
sensanaty wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Teslas don't have physical blinker switches?? That is pure lunacy, are you telling me they're touchscreen activated now?

They are touch areas on the steering wheel. It's not on the screen, but they're not buttons. They don't click.

They do in the new models like the 3 refresh
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