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I’d never driven a car where the gauges bothered me, so I didn’t worry about it when buying a 2019 minivan to replace my 2006 Prius. I hate the screen. The clock isn’t always displayed! And it displays in multiple places! I just don’t use the radio because it’s too many taps to be safe while driving.

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Slightly related, I just finally was forced to upgrade from a 2010-era brick phone to a smart phone (they were turning the 2g towers off).

With my old phone, I could pretty safely check an incoming call or text without taking my eyes off the road for more than a second or so.

With me new phone, I can't even manage to unlock my phone without feeling like I'm going to kill someone.

I guess it makes sense that the rise of all the anti-cellphone laws coincided with the rise of smartphones. They are absolutely hostile to anything but undivided attention.

You shouldn't check calls or texts while driving regardless of the type of phone, and on a smartphone you can at least have it announce who is calling or who sent the text (and even read the text for you.) You can also tell the phone to accept the call and put it on speaker (although that's technically also unsafe, but so is having a conversation with another person in the car while driving.)

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