Driver convicted for using Tesla touchscreen; CRASH

[Turfy]

I've been saying it for years.

Why is this any less or more dangerous than being distracted by a text message etc..eyes off the road are eyes off the road.

The only debate is how long your attention is gone and where/how/what you are driving!!!

This whole touch screen gig is crazy stupid. Fashion and sales over safety...

https://loudlabs.media/techlabs/german-tesla-drive...

[The Wookie]

While I would tend to agree with you, this ruling has such overreaching consequences I can't believe it isn't at least partially politically motivated in favour of German manufacturers, even if it's just a 'We told you so' on full touch screen tech.

[Rod200SX]

See that's a bit of a tricky one for me. I do agree that there are things in a car that should just be manual switches/levers/buttons, including wiper speed.

Buuuttt, changing the intermitent wiper speed shouldn't make you crash, regardless of where the controls are.

If you're taking your eyes off the road for that long to adjust something, stop and make the adjustment. I've slapped myself before for having spent too long looking at something on the iDrive in my car & pulled over to sort whatever I'm doing.

If the rain isn't bad enough to justify going on to a solid wiper speed, I'm sure you could make do by tapping the stalk for a short period of time before pulling over.

[aka_kerrly]

For the benefit of others like me who were wondering how on earth you need a touch screen to operate the wipers here is a quick video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rr_XzzJ6gc

Straight away i think that is a rubbish system , a button on a stalk that only does one wipe , what is the rest of the stalk for? Then having to press a button on the screen to bring up another screen, then select if you want manual/auto, before having to aim for 1 of 4 areas about 1cm in size right at the bottom of the screen to select which speed you want .

Absolutely stupid ,but not enough of an excuse to take you eyes of the road so long you crash.

[anonymous-user]

Stupid system.
With column stalks you can set or adjust the wipers however you wish without once taking your eyes off the road.
Should be controlled by voice commands and a stalk.

[DaveGrohl]

I've been banging on about this for ages now. Touchscreen madness, it's disgusting how the manufacturers have been bringing this in against all intelligent thought, but even more baffling is how the authorities have been allowing it, total neglect of duty. If a phone's dangerous how is a touchscreen not?

[A Winner Is You]

Always struck me as odd that cars must go through very strict safety tests to be allowed on the road, there are large fines for using a mobile device at the wheel, but car makers can screw a tablet to the dash and apparently it's perfectly safe.

[jimmyjimjim]

The Wookie said:

While I would tend to agree with you, this ruling has such overreaching consequences I can't believe it isn't at least partially politically motivated in favour of German manufacturers, even if it's just a 'We told you so' on full touch screen tech.

The next gen golf is apparently largely touchscreen driven(as reported elsewhere), so it affects them too.

I'm very much on the side of it being a distraction. I loathed the infotainment in my wife's mazda, as it was largely unusable unless stopped. Her Toyota is better as it does at least have buttons that you can use for some of it.

I hope this sticks and main controls have to be physical.

[LunarOne]

There's a thread that's been going for a few days on this...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[M4cruiser]

Agree it's a stupid system.
The problem isn't just the looking at the screen, it's the depth of thought required. (Same with a mobile phone.) Superficially it shouldn't be any more difficult than pressing a button or moving a stalk, but it just is.

Also bad when the screen reverts to a different one after a time-out. That puts pressure on you to complete your task.

When will they (i.e. the designers) understand? It's basic ergonomics guys.

[glazbagun]

jimmyjimjim said:

The Wookie said:

While I would tend to agree with you, this ruling has such overreaching consequences I can't believe it isn't at least partially politically motivated in favour of German manufacturers, even if it's just a 'We told you so' on full touch screen tech.

The next gen golf is apparently largely touchscreen driven(as reported elsewhere), so it affects them too.

I'm very much on the side of it being a distraction. I loathed the infotainment in my wife's mazda, as it was largely unusable unless stopped. Her Toyota is better as it does at least have buttons that you can use for some of it.

I hope this sticks and main controls have to be physical.

I think I read that Mazda are moving away from the whole touch screen thing for just this reason.

[tedman]

My Mazda disables the touch screen when you start driving and won’t work again until you fully stop. You have to use the wheel/iDrive-type control when on the move. At least you can get used to the buttons by touch and essentials like lights and wipers are on stalks.

[hyphen]

Designed in California where it doesn't rain much
Hence the stupid decision to not put it on a stalk.

[JagLover]

DaveGrohl said:

I've been banging on about this for ages now. Touchscreen madness, it's disgusting how the manufacturers have been bringing this in against all intelligent thought, but even more baffling is how the authorities have been allowing it, total neglect of duty. If a phone's dangerous how is a touchscreen not?

Agreed

There are a number of controls in the car that should be manual switches. Ideally they should allow you to adjust things like wiper speed by touch alone without ever taking your eyes off the road. To have them on a touch screen menu is madness.

[amusingduck]

How can you approve the sale of a car which has wiper controls on a touchscreen and then prosecute people for using the touch screen to adjust the wiper controls?


Being able to adjust the wipers is mandatory. If it is illegal to do so whilst moving, how does that car possibly meet the requirements?

Farcical.

[IamJacksContempt]

I know Mazda scrapped their touch screens (whilst driving anyway) for safety reasons apparently.

Got to say that I agree, it shouldn’t ever be necessary to use it whilst driving.

[sam.rog]

When choosing my new car I noticed a lot of them moving away from physical buttons. VAG and tesla are going full touchscreen.
In the end I chose the new 3 series. People complain that the cabin looks out of date on a new car but it has buttons for commonly used options. The iDrive is simple to use but not necessary to be used whilst driving.

[DuckDuck]

The answer here is to have effective voice control along with touch screens?

[JagLover]

DuckDuck said:

The answer here is to have effective voice control along with touch screens?

Or just a stalk on the steering wheel to control your wipers.....

[blueg33]

So if German law says you can't use a touchscreen whilst driving, how did the car pass the approvals for road use?

Personally, I think touchscreens are dangerous.