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Comment by ericmay | Hacker News Reader

That’s interesting - what vehicles require you to do that? I know the usual suspect is the Tesla, which I have, but I never have to navigate through menus to change the temperature while driving.

As an aside a lot of people like to levy criticism on the infotainment screens which I think is very well deserved, but then people text and drive, watch YouTube videos, and do all sorts of crazy things too.

Instead of levying criticism on these distractions (let’s include billboard too) we should instead focus on just reducing car usage since we won’t stop people from being distracted.

The safest car is the one in your garage.

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> As an aside a lot of people like to levy criticism on the infotainment screens which I think is very well deserved, but then people text and drive, watch YouTube videos, and do all sorts of crazy things too.

Instead of levying criticism on these distractions (let’s include billboard too) we should instead focus on just reducing car usage since we won’t stop people from being distracted.

This argument to me reads like one for abstinence from sex. The world is not so binary, we can both criticize distractions and build communities where car use is not a necessity. Not to mention in most jurisdictions some of these distractions are criminalized.

We can - but we don’t need to clutch our pearls about infotainment screens as if they are some sort of special moral insult relative to what’s very common in today’s driving communities.

Criminalization of texting and driving and such doesn’t matter unless you enforce, and we don’t enforce. So it’s de facto legal. Who cares about infotainment screens at that point?

We are talking millions of cars driving at a speed that can kill people both inside or outside the car. Anything you can do to reduce those distractions is a net positive for society. Less death.

As for criminalizing texting, I’ve heard enough people getting caught and getting big fines that it works enough for me to dissuade me from doing it.

If you live in America it’s just not enforced. Even cops do it. I don’t do it because I just don’t need to but you can watch people doing it for yourself if you pay attention.

If you’re focused on less death, sure we can criticize infotainment screens, but the energy is much better spent in demanding enforcement and in whatever we need to do to reduce car usage. Otherwise you’re kind of wasting your time, unfortunately.

It is enforced in at least some parts of the US.

I haven’t been to every part of America, but based on the travels I have done there is very little, if any enforcement.

In Canada at least, cops have special dispensation to be allowed to use their phones while driving.

Ford SYNC.

https://pictures.dealer.com/s/surprisefordvtg/0292/10a2adba8...

It's like a window into hell.

I've got a Ranger with SYNC 4. HVAC has its own set of buttons and dials below the display, but you can use the touchscreen widgets too if you want to.

https://www.ford.com.au/content/ford/au/en_au/home/owners/te...

Depends on the vehicle. Maverick Sync 4 moved HVAC controls to touch screen for 2025 models.

As a Linux fan and owner of a Sync 1.0 vehicle I feel your pain. I want to replace it with something aftermarket, but the cost of a dash kit is pretty steep if you want one of decent quality. I reboot it weekly, which takes minutes, so it doesn't freeze during the week. I'm guessing there's memory leak that takes a while to accumulate.

Original SYNC was actually embedded version of Windows. It’s running QNX now and Android for future versions.

Just bought a 2022 Mustang to avoid the 2024-2025 series for SYNC 4 and the removal of physical buttons. Car is nice but can’t get past the whole digital set up.

We rented a BMW which had all climate settings on a touch screen. That touch screen crashed once and we couldn't turn the air con off without trying to reboot the car which isn't exactly trivial since there isn't any obvious off button.

Subaru require you navigating to second screen for climate modes. Simple temp adjustment has buttons, but the screen interactions for basic usage feels dangerous as a driver.

I’m being pedantic but the OP did specifically say they need to “navigate through screens to adjust the temperature” which I think is different than setting climate modes. Not that I’m defending that you might have to do that specifically, but I was responding to the OP’s specific wording.

This is the feature I dislike most about my outback. Some systems just need buttons so you can operate without looking

Kia’s EV9 solved the problem of needing to look at the climate touch screen behind the steering wheel. That way, the driver cannot see it.

(Really. They did. No, you can’t adjust the steering wheel position enough to fix the problem.)

Typo: “Behind” -> “by hiding it behind”

Even buttons can be distracting. Instead of just a hot/cold knob, some cars have ˚F up/down buttons you have to spam.

Doesn't Tesla require you to navigate to a second screen when changing the fan speed?

The OP said changing the temperature which is what I responded to.

Also at least personally I never change the fan speed but just set the temperature I want.

Tesla added a feature via a software update a year ago that lets you change fan speed by holding the left steering wheel button.

If I had to use a touch screen to change the temp on my car, I'd probably leave in the garage.

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