Drivers struggle to multitask when using dashboard touch screens, study finds

washington.edu

In a lot (if not most) areas, it is illegal to use a touchscreen phone while driving.

So auto manufacturers built the touch screen into the car. Problem solved?

Yes it’s illegal but because the car dashboard usually is placed in a better position than your hand/phone and also because you don’t chat with the car :) but in the end yes it’s a bit pointless ban the use of a phone and allow a “big phone built in the car”.

You can hold your hand/phone anywhere, including at the same level as your windshield, so that you can look at it without turning your eyes away from the road. Below the dashboard always puts your whole windshield in your peripheral at best.

Basically all touch screens in cars I’ve interacted with feel like a self-checkout from ten years ago. Long delays, 60% chance of it registering a touch. Scrolling or panning is a catastrophe. I feel myself distracted using those.

My Tesla has a screen that feels like an iPhone. Touches always work, I don’t have to wait and see if an action worked. Night and day.

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