Cars should not use touchscreens for critical functions, period.

* * *

Even the aviation and space world is victim of touchscreen frenzy. There was a lot of criticism when SpaceX adopted full-touchscreen control on their Dragon capsule. Try to get anything done on a touchscreen under quite heavy loads/bumpy ride and you are SOL -- way more than with full physical controls.

the one for the pilot, or the one for the passengers?

Quick solution: Pull over on the highway shoulder. Get rear-ended by a truck. Get injured. Sue the car company on the basis that their distracting in-car, while-driving, notice system contributed to the accident. Whether you win or lose, that will be the end of such popups.

“Quick” and lawyers/court are antonyms.

Only if the cost of provably caused-by-touchscreen accidents that the company can't blame the user for ("users should only use the car systems in accordance with local laws") exceeds the savings they think they're making by doing everything in software plus the data and affiliations like Spotify integrations they think they can monetise.

At best you'd win some kind of mandatory labeling about when not to do it that people 20 years from now will mock as needless safety warnings for the stupid.

I already mock us for needing endless safety warnings.

Don't stick your hands in a moving chainsaw blade, eh?

Yes this was the social phenomenon to which I was referring.

I can't wait until this happens for an ad.

It was technically an ad for their service centers.

Shit, you're right. I've become too desensitized. This sucks.

I am not sure what would grate on me more - this happening every so often, or my vehicle demanding that I click “I accept” every time I start it when it reminds me not to use the screen while driving. Thousands of times since I bought the vehicle I’ve had to acknowledge that no, I haven’t forgotten that Chrysler wants to cover its ass.

I have a BMW, in fact I have had multiple, both in Europe and in the USA.

The European version does not have nag screen when you start the car. Nor does it have one when I put the car in reverse.

The US one has both.

I leveraged the fact that they have world-wide software with just 'settings' that can be turned on and off.

That way I now no longer have a nagscreen, and I have headlights that turn with my steering wheel.

Subaru also adds unnecessary prompts, eg for bluetooth:

1. press "Select New Device"

2. press device from the list

3. "This will disconnect the old device, proceed?"

Why on earth would I have done 1 and 2 if I didn't want 3? Why add more steps than absolutely necessary in a system that might be used in motion?