Is this really a good idea?

Is this really a good idea? Giant digital displays in automobiles.

Quote: Pacomartin

Is this really a good idea? Giant digital displays in automobiles.

I rent lots of new cars and the
bigger displays in some of
them are very distracting. Some
of them are a square foot in
size.

I HATE infotainment displays. Too distracting, too complex. The Tesla Model 3 you have to page to a menu to turn on the flipping headlights for crying out loud. Give me simple switches like we have had for years. Get rid of most of this crap like "drive settings" that most people set once and forget they have.

Quote: AZDuffman

. . . Too distracting, too complex.

Exactly!

AAA says infotainment systems are causing more crashes.

Tesla’ have the biggest touchscreen of all.

May not be related, but Tesla’s driver fatality rate is also more than triple that of luxury cars.

"Tesla drivers are much more likely to die than their peers driving other luxury cars. Eleven deaths in 265,290 vehicle-years is a stunningly high driver fatality rate of 41.46. That’s quadruple the rate of Audi and BMW, and more than triple the rate of all luxury cars combined." - Article

Quote: Tanko

Tesla’ have the biggest touchscreen of all.

May not be related, but Tesla’s driver fatality rate is also more than triple that of luxury cars.

Is it just me, or does the screen on the Model 3 dash look like someone bought a cheap screen at WMT and bolted it on?



As to the higher fatality rate of Tesla drivers, on one hand it may be too small a sample yet. OTOH, I can see it for several reasons. Tesla drivers are a bit smug about what they think their cars can do, so are apt to take more risks. For those who remember, in the late-1990s SUV era people thought "four wheel drive" meant "invincible." I remember a trip once seeing half a dozen cars in the ditch, all 4x4 SUVs. The drivers forgot you have to know how to drive in snow.

We are already seeing how the self-drive in the Teslas are not invincible. I have to wonder if you need to "learn" how an EV is different from ICE same as you have to "learn" that an F-150 is not a sedan. That would contribute.

I don't like that stuff.

I like radio and climate controls that I can feel, find, and adjust without looking. That means physical controls, knobs, buttons, levers.

If you have to take your eyes off of the road to adjust things that a driver should normally be able to adjust while driving, well that's just dumb.

Quote: Dalex64

I don't like that stuff.

I like radio and climate controls that I can feel, find, and adjust without looking. That means physical controls, knobs, buttons, levers.

If you have to take your eyes off of the road to adjust things that a driver should normally be able to adjust while driving, well that's just dumb.

Agree here. The Tesla requires a menu to turn on the flipping headlights. Here is what I do not get there. For decades you pulled the headlight switch one click for parking lights, 2 for headlights. Turn left for dome light, right to dim the dash. Worked 1945-1980s. Then they had to change it all around. Why?

Totally agree that the screens are dangerous. I had to borrow a 4X4 pick-up to get to a remote job in the snow that I didn't want to trust my van to get there and back. Even had to chain up the 4X4 to get in the last couple of miles. The radio was on the screen. Try to adjust the volume or change stations on the touch screen was impossible while bouncing along on the slippery gravel road. Thank God the lights weren't on the screen or I would have been off the road for sure. This wasn't a city/highway car it was a friggin Ford 250 designed to be off road.

Snacks has a Tacoma with this. I've driven it a handful of times, still have no Earthly idea how to turn the radio on. Everything I do just replays the XM commercial. Can't get a station, can't get normal radio. Self professed Luddite that I am, you'd think 34yrs of video gaming would help me out. Not even close.

Even Hitler knew to offer a simple, reasonable mode of transportation.