Have Car Touchscreens Got Too Big?

Journalist Tom Fraser, at drive.com.au, has made an interesting observation about trends in the growing size of car information screens.

We know most new vehicles tend to be bigger than the previous model. You only have to look back and compare the size of original iconic cars like; Mini, VW Beetle, and Toyota Corolla to see how they have grown.

This “size war”, like TV screen and car size, has broken out in recent years with in-vehicle touchscreens. These screens are now starting to infringe on vision over the bonnet, and more importantly distracting drivers from their essential task of safe operation of the vehicle.

Brightness and quality of the screen images is also contributing to driver distraction, particularly at dusk as the outside light fades but the screen dimmer has not yet activated.

The trend to remove physical buttons and switches from the car dash, with preference for touchscreen activation, which often requires multiple touches to get down to the desired action, is likely to increase driver distraction and adversely affect road safety.

Until manufacturers change we believe this will require greater will-power and concentration of drivers to achieve the same level of safety as with previous car interiors. Drive Safe!