US navy to replace touchscreen controls following NTSB investigation

theverge.com

12 points·etchasketch··5 comments

On August 21st, 2017, the USS John S. McCain collided with the Alnic MC, a Liberian oil tanker, off the coast of Singapore. The report provides a detailed overview of the actions that led to the collision: when crew members tried to split throttle and steering control between consoles, they lost control of the ship, putting it into the path of the tanker. The crash killed 10 sailors and injured 48 aboard the McCain.

Unpopular opinion, but they should ban all new touch screen controls on all new vehicles built past the year 2025.

> they should ban all new touch screen controls on all new vehicles built past the year 2025

100% agree; there is no way to make touchscreen controls safe in a vehicle, since there is effectively no way to use them eyes-free. To borrow the classic book title, touch controls in cars are unsafe at any speed.

Is it really an unpopular opinion, though? I drive a hybrid with a touchscreen Navigation/Entertainment system and own an iPhone. Both are unusable in bright sunlight. I can’t imagine a car that relies 100% on a touchscreen - and I also think that we should be using e-ink on those screens.

Unpopular with vehicle manufacturers

Unpopular with their marketing departments.

The engineers know.

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