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Are touchscreens in cars dangerous?

(www.economist.com)
238 points Brajeshwar | 9 comments | 20 Sep 25 15:57 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
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crazygringo ◴[20 Sep 25 16:27 UTC] No.45314757[source]▶
> An analysis published in 2020 by the Transport Research Laboratory, a British organisation, found that touchscreens impaired a driver’s reaction time more than driving over the legal alcohol limit.

The question isn't whether they're dangerous, anymore.

The question is, when is safety legislation going to be passed that prevents them from being used for any routine adjustments while driving. I.e. windshield wipers, AC, change volume, skip to next track, etc.

Like it's fine if you still use them to input a GPS destination, change long-term car settings, connect a Bluetooth device, etc.

But we need to separate out the actions routinely used during driving and legislate physical controls. Why is there not legislation for this already?

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oneeyedpigeon ◴[20 Sep 25 17:12 UTC] No.45315182[source]▶
> The question is, when is safety legislation going to be passed that prevents them from being used for any routine adjustments while driving.

We already have this exact legislation in the UK.

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1. quietbritishjim ◴[20 Sep 25 18:33 UTC] No.45315988[source]▶
Really? All new cars seem to have heating controls on a touchscreen. Are you sure you aren't thinking of something else, like the regulations against the use of mobile phones while driving? (Even that is allowed so long as it's on a mount.)
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2. youngtaff ◴[20 Sep 25 18:48 UTC] No.45316142[source]▶
I’m in the UK and my touch screen doesn’t work above 5mph
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3. YZF ◴[20 Sep 25 18:56 UTC] No.45316205[source]▶
What about Teslas? I know they're in the UK because I saw them there and they have many controls on the touch screen and almost no physical controls. How does that work?
4. shawabawa3 ◴[20 Sep 25 20:08 UTC] No.45316918[source]▶
What car?

I've driven like 5 modern rental cars in the last year and none of them locked out the touch screen while driving, and most needed the touch screen to change the temperature controls

5. subscribed ◴[20 Sep 25 20:30 UTC] No.45317181[source]▶
Does that mean that you have to park, say, Polestar o the motorway to change the temperature in the AC?
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6. gerdesj ◴[20 Sep 25 20:36 UTC] No.45317232[source]▶
My Seic MG4 has volume +/- physical buttons under the touch screen as well as the usual steering wheel controls but all air conn controls are on the touch screen which works at any speed.

Quite a lot of the safety features rely on the Android tablet embedded in the dash. When you restart it (long press home button) quite a worrying number of warnings pop up on the display behind the steering wheel!

7. gambiting ◴[20 Sep 25 21:00 UTC] No.45317483[source]▶
I'm in the UK and my touch screen works fine at any speed. Anecdotes are kinda pointless unless you say what kind of car you have. Mine is a 2020 Volvo XC60.
8. magicalhippo ◴[20 Sep 25 21:24 UTC] No.45317690{3}[source]▶
My Renault Megane e-Tech has physical controls for just about everything needed, but regardless it also has a voice interface, so I can tell it to adjust the AC or turn off the seat heater etc without taking my eyes off the road.

Physical controls were a must when getting a new car, but I find myself using voice a lot, especially in traffic.

9. numpad0 ◴[21 Sep 25 09:53 UTC] No.45321385[source]▶
Basically every Japanese infotainment has this feature too. There's a "car is in motion" input cable that you are not to snip off. It's not rare to find that wire severed, eh good enough effort on manufacturer's end.

It's also software implemented. The screen works, just the apps on it grey out buttons while in motion. You can e.g. switch to radio, change volume, but not search or set destination.