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Yes, distraction.gov has some research you might be interested in, based on studies of actual car crashes. Note that the key point is distraction, not necessar

Yes, distraction.gov has some research you might be interested in, based on studies of actual car crashes. Note that the key point is distraction, not necessarily touchscreens by themselves. The problem is that it's impossible to use a touchscreen without looking at it, which means you're not looking at the road, and are thus distracted. NHTSA basically says that if it takes more than a single quick glance to perform an action, it's dangerous. This is why most OEMs lock out the touch screen controls while the car is in motion.

thrownaway2424 11y ago
Ha! most OEMs like which ones? I've never seen a car where the touchscreen controls are locked while driving. At most I've seen ones that either won't let you use a touch keyboard while driving, or that will let you do that, after tapping a warning message about that being dangerous.
- Grishnakh 11y ago
  Mazdas lock out the touchscreens when driving, forcing you to use the "commander" knob instead. And not all functions are available when moving.
- vinay427 11y ago
  Lexus vehicles used to do this, at least back in 2006, so that you could only operate basic functions but could not set navigation destinations, etc. It was a huge pain, but given the touchscreen-only interface it made sense to minimize distractions. With my current car in one of the best designed control wheel UIs in the industry, I can navigate the menus almost exclusively without looking at the display (given some practice).
- kalleboo 11y ago
  I believe it's the law in Japan, or at least they all do it here (in addition to disabling the obligatory built-in TV). Most dealers will pull out the sense wire from the back of the console if you ask them to
- thebakeshow 11y ago
  2010 Toyota Prius limits what you can do on the touchscreen while in motion. For example, you can't use the navigation
CamperBob2 11y ago
Obviously it's possible to meet NHTSA's criterion of operation with a "single quick glance" with a touchscreen UI. The fact that most manufacturers either do a poor job of making this happen or don't bother trying at all doesn't entitle you to condemn the entire technology.
- mdorazio 11y ago
  That's a fair opinion, but I have to disagree. Do this test yourself: grab an iPad and then setup your phone camera to record your face. Now look forward, then do a fairly straightforward task on the iPad like thumbs upping a song in Pandora, then look forward again. Check the video and see how long your eyes were on the screen. Do the same for a few other tasks as well. Now calculate how far your car would have traveled during that time at freeway speed. For me, it's between 1.5 and 2 seconds, or around 100 feet of travel. If that really doesn't seem dangerous to you then I suppose it's your life, but I don't want to be driving anywhere near you. Touchscreens can meet NHTSA's guidelines if they are used for presenting information. However, it's very difficult to make them safe to physically interact with while driving, short of reducing what's shown to just a few giant buttons. And my original point was that Tesla doesn't even try on this front - the center screen is jam packed with information and small buttons that require quite a bit of attention to operate effectively.
  - CamperBob2 11y ago
    Honestly, if you can't afford to lose a second or two here and there, you're probably going too fast for conditions.
  - cplease 11y ago
    > Touchscreens can meet NHTSA's guidelines if they are used for presenting information. I think you mean displays, not touchscreens.
ars 11y ago
> This is why most OEMs lock out the touch screen controls while the car is in motion. So that the passenger can't use them either? The car is not my baby sitter, I wouldn't buy a car that did stuff like that.
- mdorazio 11y ago
  I appreciate your stance and also hate these kinds of safety features from a usability standpoint. However, keep in mind that they're not there just for you - they're there to keep the drivers around you safe. If you're messing with the navigation controls and smash into the car in front of you, a completely innocent driver is suffering because you didn't want your car to babysit you. Also, for what it's worth at least two of the OEMs I've worked with are in the process of adding passenger-detecting tech to the seats and head unit so that if someone is in the passenger seat, the full touchscreen controls will be unlocked.
  - ars 11y ago
    > If you're messing with the navigation controls and smash into the car in front of you, a completely innocent driver is suffering because you didn't want your car to babysit you. No, it's not because the car didn't babysit me, it's because I messed with the controls. I have lots of way to crash into people, the car can help me avoid it, by knowledge and help, but not by restrictions. If you put in passenger detecting tech I'll be sure to activate it permanently if I buy that car (or not buy the car if I can't). They already have passenger detecting tech anyway - it's a weight sensor, it makes the seatbelt light beep. I'll probably have to remove the seatbelt beeper though, since it would activate constantly thinking there is someone in the seat. And this is why you should not add such lockouts - people will disable them, and remove safety features in the process. And in any case machines are not smart enough for them to be in charge, there are too many special cases and failures.

thrownaway2424 11y ago

Ha! most OEMs like which ones? I've never seen a car where the touchscreen controls are locked while driving. At most I've seen ones that either won't let you use a touch keyboard while driving, or that will let you do that, after tapping a warning message about that being dangerous.

Grishnakh 11y ago
Mazdas lock out the touchscreens when driving, forcing you to use the "commander" knob instead. And not all functions are available when moving.
vinay427 11y ago
Lexus vehicles used to do this, at least back in 2006, so that you could only operate basic functions but could not set navigation destinations, etc. It was a huge pain, but given the touchscreen-only interface it made sense to minimize distractions. With my current car in one of the best designed control wheel UIs in the industry, I can navigate the menus almost exclusively without looking at the display (given some practice).
kalleboo 11y ago
I believe it's the law in Japan, or at least they all do it here (in addition to disabling the obligatory built-in TV). Most dealers will pull out the sense wire from the back of the console if you ask them to
thebakeshow 11y ago
2010 Toyota Prius limits what you can do on the touchscreen while in motion. For example, you can't use the navigation

CamperBob2 11y ago

Obviously it's possible to meet NHTSA's criterion of operation with a "single quick glance" with a touchscreen UI. The fact that most manufacturers either do a poor job of making this happen or don't bother trying at all doesn't entitle you to condemn the entire technology.

mdorazio 11y ago
That's a fair opinion, but I have to disagree. Do this test yourself: grab an iPad and then setup your phone camera to record your face. Now look forward, then do a fairly straightforward task on the iPad like thumbs upping a song in Pandora, then look forward again. Check the video and see how long your eyes were on the screen. Do the same for a few other tasks as well. Now calculate how far your car would have traveled during that time at freeway speed. For me, it's between 1.5 and 2 seconds, or around 100 feet of travel. If that really doesn't seem dangerous to you then I suppose it's your life, but I don't want to be driving anywhere near you. Touchscreens can meet NHTSA's guidelines if they are used for presenting information. However, it's very difficult to make them safe to physically interact with while driving, short of reducing what's shown to just a few giant buttons. And my original point was that Tesla doesn't even try on this front - the center screen is jam packed with information and small buttons that require quite a bit of attention to operate effectively.
- CamperBob2 11y ago
  Honestly, if you can't afford to lose a second or two here and there, you're probably going too fast for conditions.
- cplease 11y ago
  > Touchscreens can meet NHTSA's guidelines if they are used for presenting information. I think you mean displays, not touchscreens.

ars 11y ago

> This is why most OEMs lock out the touch screen controls while the car is in motion. So that the passenger can't use them either? The car is not my baby sitter, I wouldn't buy a car that did stuff like that.

mdorazio 11y ago
I appreciate your stance and also hate these kinds of safety features from a usability standpoint. However, keep in mind that they're not there just for you - they're there to keep the drivers around you safe. If you're messing with the navigation controls and smash into the car in front of you, a completely innocent driver is suffering because you didn't want your car to babysit you. Also, for what it's worth at least two of the OEMs I've worked with are in the process of adding passenger-detecting tech to the seats and head unit so that if someone is in the passenger seat, the full touchscreen controls will be unlocked.
- ars 11y ago
  > If you're messing with the navigation controls and smash into the car in front of you, a completely innocent driver is suffering because you didn't want your car to babysit you. No, it's not because the car didn't babysit me, it's because I messed with the controls. I have lots of way to crash into people, the car can help me avoid it, by knowledge and help, but not by restrictions. If you put in passenger detecting tech I'll be sure to activate it permanently if I buy that car (or not buy the car if I can't). They already have passenger detecting tech anyway - it's a weight sensor, it makes the seatbelt light beep. I'll probably have to remove the seatbelt beeper though, since it would activate constantly thinking there is someone in the seat. And this is why you should not add such lockouts - people will disable them, and remove safety features in the process. And in any case machines are not smart enough for them to be in charge, there are too many special cases and failures.