The infotainment technology that automakers are cramming into the dashboard of new vehicles is making drivers take their eyes off the road and hands off the wheel for dangerously long periods of time, an AAA study says.
The study released Thursday is the latest by University of Utah professor David Strayer, who has been examining the impact of infotainment systems on safety for AAA's Foundation for Traffic Safety since 2013. Past studies also identified problems, but Mr. Strayer said the "explosion of technology" has made things worse.
Automakers now include more infotainment options to allow drivers to use social media, email, and text. The technology is also becoming more complicated to use. Cars used to have a few buttons and knobs. Some vehicles now have as many as 50 buttons on the steering wheel and dashboard that are multi-functional. There are touch screens, voice commands, writing pads, heads-up displays on windshields and mirrors and 3-D computer-generated images.
"It's adding more and more layers of complexity and information at drivers' fingertips without often considering whether it's a good idea to put it at their fingertips," Strayer said.
Safe following distance would solve so much...
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Wednesday November 29 2017, @02:07AM (3 children)
4-5 years ago my car CD player died. I replaced it with an aftermarket unit that let me plug a USB drive into it. I love it. Except for the UI. I't's a maddenly difficult UI to figure out, even though on the surface it seems easy. Example? The USB stick has 12 albums and 16 CDs on it. Search for a CD. First off, all the multiple CD albums have a CD-1 and CD-2 under them. Which album is this particular CD-1 pointing at? No clue. Oh, you thought the Iron Maiden -> CD 1 would be the first Iron Maiden CD? Nope. Dumass, why would you ever think that.
Second, no manual. I downloaded the PDF to my laptop. I read the "search for whatever", seems easy enough. Sitting in the car at a light, do a search, find what I want, hit "yeppers, I want that", and I either get something completely different or I'm halfway through the CD I wanted to listen to. Why? Hellifino.
Contrast that to California law that says if I use my cellphone while driving I can expect a big dildo up my ass. Never mind if I'm using the navigation app stopped at a red light, nor that I'd otherwise be using a paper map doing 70 MPH down the freeway.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday November 29 2017, @02:23AM
It's like having to operate the UI on a Staples or FedEx print center do-it-yourself printer. Why not use the printer you got, you all ask? Because even plain black cartridges are 50 bucks and now that school's over it's well worth the trip and cost-savings when something actually has to be printed.
But regarding vehicles, yeah, road-atlasses for cross-country and Thomas-Guides for cities all the way, baby. The batteries don't run out on those. And knowing how to read a Thomas guide gets you mad punany.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday November 29 2017, @02:37AM
- top of her steering column, so she can stare at Google Maps as she drives.
Me? I don't need no stinking maps.
In the words of the immortal Michael J. Roberts [tads.org] I just "go there".
"Just going there" _never_ fails me.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday November 29 2017, @12:45PM
Try going in and relabelling AAAAALLLLLLLL of the classic Doctor Who episodes so it properly shows up in something like Plex.
All , what, 800ish episodes, 250ish GB, serials with sub-episodes.....Ugh!!
A bulk renamer only helps somewhat....the rest is manual labour.
But... Just go into the USB and rename cd1 and cd2 to meeting like Metallica_cd1 or......?
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 4, Informative) by black6host on Wednesday November 29 2017, @02:24AM
Yeah, I'm "get off my lawn" old, but I miss the simpler days. I have a 2014 vehicle now and it's all I can do to manage cruise control, which my '99 Jeep Wrangler had. Answer the phone, change Sirius channels or change radio stations, how many miles I've traveled on trip 1, on trip 2, gas mileage figures that are at best simply taking the best case scenario, in favor of the automaker. Shit, it cost me 85 USD just to make a simple copy of a key. And it's not a smart key.
I can't imagine an HUD display, my state just put the inspection tag where such a thing would be. Maybe they designed it so it wouldn't overlap, I don't have an HUD. But I know where they appear and anything in the area would be a distraction.
Can't find a mechanic to fix my car because they don't have access to the technical material that dealers do. This is so fucked up. Yet.... My Jeep died and I need something reliable. Any recent model is going to have these things. Nice when it works but fuck, I have to pay to put nitrogen in my tires so the goddamned TPMS sensors don't light up?
No thanks.
(Score: 3, Funny) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday November 29 2017, @02:34AM (1 child)
- buttons.
I'm about to get paid. I may buy a car. But not with a touchscreen:
I want a car that I can drive while blindfolded.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Wednesday November 29 2017, @08:39AM
Sure, but we really don't want you driving while blindfolded!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MostCynical on Wednesday November 29 2017, @04:43AM (1 child)
"here, hold my beer while I read this sms."
While modern cars have too many buttons, or too many menus, or too many functions (often hidden), users don't need to and shouldn't be using any of it while driving.
Map - learn the route (look at a map, even googlemaps, and learn it)
Radio - most cars have a channel and volume button set - again, learn where they are on your car.
Anything else - phone, sms, can't-live-without podcast? Do without. Get your 80's on, and just do without.
Or kill somone, eventually - maybe just yourself, when you eventually crash.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 29 2017, @08:58AM
It's not gadgets we are talking about, it's replacing the buttons on the dashboard with a touch screen. That should fall under the same rules as texting while driving (as in, if you are caught with the touch screen in your Tesla on, bye bye drivers license).
As for maps, a GPS - when used correctly - is a huge improvement. Many people drive new routes every day. They are not going to start every single day by learning todays route. But using it correctly, you set your next destination before driving off, and the thing tells you what to do. The alternative to a GPS is not people driving like they know the route by heart, it's going back to paper maps covering the steering wheel and half the wind shield.
(Score: 2) by rob_on_earth on Wednesday November 29 2017, @09:57AM (4 children)
There were a number of kickstarters a few years ago that promised a HUD(Heads-Up Display) on the bottom part of your windscreen. No more looking at the dash...
Still waiting. Sounds like the perfect solution, maybe the math was hard . I though some of the high-end manufactures had already demoed HUDs?
Anyone got any experience of HUDs in cars or why it might be a hard problem to crack?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 29 2017, @12:12PM
Even HUDs are still distracting, https://arstechnica.com/cars/2015/07/heads-up-displays-in-cars-can-hinder-driver-safety/ [arstechnica.com]
This spring got a 2017 Chrysler Pacifica minivan (family of six) with the forward collision detection and automatic braking package. Statistically speaking, vehicles with technology like that are in substantially fewer crashes. ( http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/51/1/1 [iihs.org] ) On top of that, the Pacifica aces every single IIHS and NHTSA crash test except rollover resistance (impossible for any combustion engine minivan to ace because the center of gravity is too high). Only the 2016+ Kia Sedona and 2014+ Honda Odyssey minivans do as well as the 2017 Pacifica in crash tests, and when we bought the Pacifica neither of those vans offered forward collision detection with automatic braking. The 2018 Honda Odyssey just came out and offers the same package.
But the touch screen center console is a disaster. Too many menus, too many options. You have to select every option you might possibly need while parked, because even the damn automatic braking package won't save you if you're stupid enough to fiddle with settings while the car is moving. I don't regret buying the thing, but there has to be a better way to manage all the features on a modern car. On the bright side, the stereo controls are on the steering wheel so I can change radio stations and adjust the volume without taking my eyes off the road.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 29 2017, @03:31PM (1 child)
My family had a 1992 Pontiac Bonneville which in my opinion had the perfect "HUD"
Showed you your speed and a fuel gauge in digital form on the bottom of your windshield. It was perfect because it was just enough and not more than that.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Wednesday November 29 2017, @09:34PM
My mom inherited one of those from her father. I loved that car...fastest thing I've ever driven, if only because of the higher limit on the speed governor ;)
One issue with the HUD though was that it required some kind of special (and expensive) coating on the windshield, which we discovered when the windshield cracked and had to be replaced. She didn't want to pay for it, and the HUD was still *kinda* visible without it, but it didn't work nearly as well. Don't know the exact details unfortunately, but that may be why any aftermarket HUD concept doesn't work as well...
(Score: 1) by toddestan on Sunday December 03 2017, @12:23AM
HUDs have been around since the early 90's, possibly even before that. Always seemed like a good idea, but never caught on for whatever reason.
I've seen some cellphone apps that claim to be HUDs. Basically they just display information like your speed, compass, etc. in a large font, and reversed. So you can just place your phone on your dash and view the information through the reflection on your windshield. I haven't tried it to see how well it works though.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday November 29 2017, @12:58PM
You just need voice control:
"Turn left" becomes
"Dear Aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all" and then the car crashes.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---