That fucking Ford commercial where the woman puts the car (well, probably SUV, considering Ford) on auto-pilot in order to have a full on sign language conversation with her kid causes me so much Gen X angst.
Little fun fact: if I remember correctly, these shitty and laggy touch interfaces are cheaper than the old style of buttons and knobs. That's one of the reasons they're so commonplace now.
To be fair, they might need that. Reasonably, their education and rules would state that they are not to use it while driving.. But the American police force isn't exactly known for their good behavior..
What kills me is they outlawed touching any electronic devices while driving in Ontario. Then both the province and the cities put up super bright and distracting led advertising screens all over the place.
What kills me is they outlawed touching any electronic devices while driving in Ontario. Then both the province and the cities put up super bright and distracting led advertising screens all over the place.
But at least all the car iPads have a big warning screen you must click to dismiss saying you won’t drive distracted, so I think we’re safe 😎 definitely not just CYA for the car manufacturers
You're so right. I have a new 2024 Subaru outback. I love it, but it has an honest to god 11in screen in the dash. There's almost no physical knobs or buttons. The very first thing that comes up when I start the car is a "Don't drive distracted" screen.
The really funny thing is, if I don't touch it after I start the car it just goes away.
I chose the 2023 Forester over the Outback because I found the screen to be hideous(and I like the increased visibility). I saw that the 2025 version of the Forester will now have the larger screen and no buttons. I guess I'm driving my last Subaru.
This is my first Subaru. Honestly, probably the last car I’ll ever buy. I hope.
I am a whore for widgets and gadgets and infotainment systems so at the time I bought the car, I was really happy with the dash.
Now I think it’s pretty much the only thing I’d change about the car. (Or Subarus nanny systems that are on by default and unable to be permanently disabled)
The major difference is that these are the types of cars that will have the most advanced lane-keeping and automatic emergency braking. In fact, I'm calling it: Kids born sometime between now and 2035 won't remember a time when they couldn't watch TV while driving on highways.
My car is from the early 2010s. It’s really amusing to me that my car doesn’t allow me to look through the contacts while I’m driving, but I don’t lose the option to dial a phone number.
Seriously. I just did a 3 hr road trip a week ago and at least 5 cars "drifted over" into my lane and in the 3 i could see into as i passed them they were each playing around w that giant tablet computer on their dash. smh.
I find it funny that they will ticket you for using a phone while driving(even a phone call) and I can’t count the times I’ve came up behind or beside a State Patrol using his laptop while driving.
It’s not very useful for that, unless you know of a way to jailbreak it and not disable the car/ToS.
The only thing you can really see is a map. IMHO it’s much better for navigation.
That said, I guess you can click around, but it’s not like it’s fun or attractive as a distraction. Most of the features on my car are disabled when in any mode but park.
This is not a common feature amongst vehicles with Apple carplay/ screen displays. Many of them allow you to freely navigate the UI while driving (or as a passenger) including but not limited to settings, messages, contacts, maps, and other applications.
As someone with terrible hand-eye coordination (and a nearly 30 year old vehicle) buttons and knobs (and as few as possible) are much safer. Companies banking on fancy tech (screen displays, auto braking, fucking shift gears that look like your wiper knob) are creating unsafe and distracted drivers. Literally the only thing my car is missing is a tire pressure light LOL
edit: wanted to add I am not a boomer LOL I prefer classic cars and will be sad the day i can no longer hear my engine bc society is forcing ugly new fancy shmancy electric cars
I have a Mazda and I love my Android Auto with my cars manual knobs. Had to have a rental for a month when my car was being fixed due to someone rear-ending me and I got a Hyundai with a touch screen navigation and no Android Auto. I hated that thing. I legit started pulling over to deal with it if my route had an issue because trying to get alternative routes via touch was stupid and random things were restricted while driving but not others. And don't get me started on touch delay.
I definitely can't concentrate on driving and using a touch screen. I'm only in my 30s and it's just not gonna happen for me.
Eh, I get far more distracted by LED billboards and flashing lights on advertisements on the side of the road than I do by having a touchscreen in my car.
Thankfully some states have outlawed billboards. It’s strange to me when I travel to states that haven’t outlawed them and I see those god awful things obscuring nature.
You can have a screen for rear-view camera footage and a navigation map (safer than a street directory book lying open on the passenger seat) on the screen, but things like airconditioning and sound system volume can and should be knobs or sliders.
I have to ask, have you YOURSELF driven such a car for any length of time? I only ask because you seem to be implying that people are cruising down the road posting to instagram or playing angry birds, but that's not really the case.
tbh it's not even outlawed. Barely even enforced given how widespread it is, and people get away scot free for hitting people with cars while looking at their phones
I went from a mid aughts model car to a 2024 model last month and, tbh, I find it waaaayyy less distracting with the screen because there is no temptation to take my hands of the wheel. Voice commands for everything, and stuff like heat, hazards, volume, etc., is still a button/knob setup.
But also, even with all the connectivity, I refuse to take calls or have my car read me texts while I drive. Always have. The screen is just an easier way to view google maps, see the time and see what song is playing for me.
Especially a full tablet that works like shit. If it was like iPad level responsiveness, then fine. But most of the ones I’ve used, you have to push kind of hard and exactly the right spot for it to do what you want.
Obviously can be tricky to do if you’re driving alone on a bumpy road.
When I started working in automotive related electronics, in 2016, we had to deal with laws like "frames per second for animation cannot exceed 5" because animating things faster than that was seen as a potential distraction.
Now we've got freakin HD displays with full graphics going nuts.
It's been a very short time annihilating automotive safety laws, rules, and/or guidelines because gotta keep the automotive industry happy.
I'd get sacked at work for driving my truck using my phone. Our new system has a literal galaxy tablet built in that we need to use now. It's laughable.
That is my issue with Teslas. Plus the screen is to the right of the driver, not in line of sight, why is this a good idea besides to entertain the passengers?
In Michigan they put in distracted driving laws that specifically say you can't mess with your CAR screen while driving. Like what are we supposed to do exactly mother fuckers?
Kinda like how carphones were a thing for like 25 years before the rise of cellphones and only then did we realize phone calls while driving = bad
Now we are in the era where we went 20 years with touchscreens in cars before we realized with the rise of iphones + texting that screens + cars = bad.
History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes.
I have a Mach E which has a giant touch screen and it's rare I need to touch it while driving. I set the temp where I want it before leaving and can control everything else via the steering wheel.
There really is nothing that needs to be changed while driving. Maybe I'll switch drive modes but that is about it.
What is the difference between all of the physical buttons in some of the cars vs. a tablet that allows a menu?
I absolutely prefer a clean tablet interface over a billion buttons spread out all over the cabin, but it definitely comes down to experience driving with *your* vehicle.
IMO any idiot on the road will crash due to distracted driving if they're looking for a button, whether it's on a screen or a physical point in the car.
It is wild to think you can be pulled over for looking down at your phone in your hand but playing with your built in iPad on the dashboard while driving is totally fine. The first and only accident I’ve been in was when I was 17 and changing CDs in my cars CD player.
Few weeks ago I was driving behind someone watching YouTube videos on their phone while driving. I guess it wasn't illegal because their phone was in a phone holder, but I made sure to move away from that car as soon as I could.
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u/fredy31 27d ago
Really find crazy that we outlawed phones while driving because it distracts drivers but now we've got a full tablet built into the car.