Just a note about laws against texting. So my state recently, finally last year, put in place a law which said you must use hands free.

Guess what happened, now half the dolts have their phone mounted to their windshield in their field of view or on their dash. So yeah, its hands free but even more distracting. Apparently this loop hole exists in many states!

Even a 17" screen or great UI won't fix the problems, they will just ameliorate them.

The are functions that just fit better into a touchscreen experience, and some that should have physical buttons even if it takes regulation to make sure of this.

I mean I'm not against huge screens in the car, as long as I can turn them off or dim them to the point where I consider they don't impede my driving. But I'd still very much like to see basic functions of the car tied (also?) to physical buttons. Whether the manufacturer also wants to put them on a screen that's fine but I see no good reason a handful or buttons and knobs can't fit in a car. The minor savings or the wow effect don't really offset the downsides of distracting attention.

This is an excellent point. Screens always emit more light than analogue gauges and buttons. When driving at night, dashboard lights annoy me so much that I avoid turning on the high-beams because the blue alert cluster light is so bright. I went so far as to wire up the dash lights to a toggle switch so I can shut them off independently of the headlights. This is on a 2003 VW Jetta, which has no back-lit screens.

I own a Tesla 3 as well, and I mostly agree-- I have 0 need to adjust most controls manually, the auto stuff works really well.

But I don't think voice controls are a good 'fix'. I still wish the car had a physical glovebox button and physical wiper controls.

https://www.nngroup.com/articles/tesla-big-touchscreen/

A Case Study of Car-Dashboard User Interface

And it was discussed here before: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19968970

Im curious, have any of these problems been fixed?

  - Soft Buttons That Demand Attention
  - Poor Target Design
  - Target Size
  - Accidental Touches
  - Map Always on Screen

It's not like it stops people from just using their phones anyway.

I'm finding that more and more people are bringing a software mindset to cars.

If it can be done wrong, we should add a technology fix to stop them!

It hasn't always been this way to anywhere near this degree.

One can be a software developer and resist the urge to control the user through dark patterns/software interlocks; unfortunately it seems there is a type of person drawn toward software development in the first place by the degree of empowerment and capacity to control it offers.

I've always understood the impulse/satisfaction I've gotten out of writing it; but for me the end goal was writing the perfect tool to satisfy the end-user's workflow/experience. I've never been fond of using software as a means of mass coercion via "middle-users"; and when I see, or am asked to be part of it, it's generally a safe bet a philosophical rant/entreaty isn't far away.

And besides which, screw Software interlocks. If it's important enough, dedicate hardware to it, lest you feel like ending up as the next THERAC-25/737-MAX.

By that logic, doors needn't support locks, because people can just break windows anyways. Likewise, why put safety features in cars, people can just ride motorcycles?

When you're making a thing, your job is to make that thing safe. The fact that people can use other, less-safe things does not in any way abrogate your responsibility for the safety of the thing you make.