Are touchscreens in cars dangerous?

They're quite difficult to use without looking at them, and I've got better things to look at while driving. Better buttons that don't move and have "presence" than I can feel without looking.

Physical volume adjustment buttons on the steering wheel are about the only control I feel comfortable using whilst the car is moving. Anything more complex with a touch-screen interface is an accident waiting to happen.

What about physical buttons off the wheel? A well-designed car might have quite a few: window controls, sound system volume knob, temperature up-down, etc.

In my first car, I could operate the windows, climate control and sound system without taking my eyes off the road at all, although I had to glance briefly at the (fixed) display to see what radio station I was tuned to if it wasn’t obvious.

I have two cars with two different button layouts. I have to look at the physical buttons to use them. It's no different for me than a screen.

Well, yes, there is the obvious stuff although I could say opening windows is not entirely simple unless I'm fully opening or closing.

Old-school radios were a lot more user-friendly with preset station buttons and a tactile volume control that actually felt like it was connected to something.

I would be surprised if that's the case. For commonly-used functions, you quickly learn knob shapes and their general locations. I'm sure you can adjust volume without looking in both cars.

With touchscreens, it's not just that you lose the tactile component, but all these interfaces are modal, with buttons that disappear or move around depending on the screen you're on.

Oh, you're on the radio screen? There's no way to adjust seat heating from here... or if there is one, it's in a different place than on the AC screen.

> What about physical buttons off the wheel? A well-designed car might have quite a few: window controls, sound system volume knob, temperature up-down, etc.

Those controls are typically on some surface of the car your hand is braced on. They're also very simple physical controls with a good amount of tactile feedback. It's hard to fuck up a simple push button window control or AC dial. Even on a bumpy road you'd be hard pressed to have trouble with such controls.

I won’t argue with your lived experience but this would make you an extreme outlier.

About 20 years ago, every teenager in the world who had a mobile phone was able to select a contact from their phonebook and type an entire message and send, in class with their phone in their pocket.

This is possible because of physical buttons and a deterministic user interface. The same applies to cars and other control interfaces.

As I said I have two cars from two manufacturers. They have wildly different button layouts. Your example is a teen ager with a "single phone". In my case I have to resist the urge to read the tiny text on the physical button to know what I need to do. I avoid spending enough time in my car to learn the physical layout.

I'm not arguing the physical buttons "can" be used to have muscle memory so you can use them without looking. What I'm saying is that it isn't a guarantee. The good thing about CarPlay is that the screen interface is the same regardless of the car I'm driving. I get an instinctual level of interaction.

I preface my post by saying that I do not drive one of these cars that use touch screens to input car actions. So maybe what I am describing below is already done.

I reject the idea of touch screens for car functions because it takes more than one level of navigation to reach the active button. If the UI designers would change the design so that when the car starts moving the touch screen would change and lock to a display where all driving-related buttons (heating/wipers/car stereo/gears) are close by, highly visible and activated with a single touch I could see myself using a touch screen in a car.

My main reservation is taking my eyes and attention of the road to focus on navigating a touch screen UI put together by 5 teams and 3 different committees.

Simply having two cars they switch between regularly makes them an extreme outlier.

Most American families have more than one car. It is the norm, not an "extreme outlier".

It's important to read all the words in a comment before responding to it. Most families own more than one car, but usually each adult has their own, they don't switch regularly.