[in 2013, I leased a vehicle that had a touchscreen. In 2016, I requested
one that had the more "spartan" controls. They are a lot less distracting,
and are a lot less likely to malfunction! -- Mike]
Shock, horror! In-car touchscreens are way more distracting than we first thought, says new study
Date:
Mon, 22 Dec 2025 13:54:11 +0000
Description:
New research suggests that using a touchscreen when behind the wheel makes
you a pretty terrible driver.
FULL STORY
The results of a new study by the University of Washington (UW) and Toyota Research Institute have provided pretty daming evidence against the use of large, distracting touchscreens when driving a vehicle.
Rather eloquently titled Touchscreens in Motion: Quantifying the Impact of Cognitive Load on Distracted Drivers, the study saw 16 participants placed in ultra-realistic high-fidelity driving simulators while researchers tracked
eye and hand movements, pupil dilation, and skin conductivity.
Participants were asked to drive around a typical urban environment and then interact with various side-tasks presented on the touchscreen ; nothing
major, simply adjusting car functionality or changing the radio station.
Their ability to both drive and their accuracy when interacting with the touchscreen were measured.
According to Car Scoops , the researchers measured a mix of driver
performance metrics and physiological markers, from eye movements, index
finger tracking and steering consistency to reaction time and stress signals. This helped them build a better picture of stress and cognitive load on the human in the driving seat.
As you would expect, the results werent pretty for those peddling an
increased reliance on touchscreens over physical buttons. Firstly, pointing accuracy on said touchscreen and the speed of use were reduced by more than
58% when compared to non-driving conditions.
Already, this reveals that us humans struggle to physically interact with a touchscreen when busy processing whats going on out of the windscreen of a moving vehicle. This then requires the driver to apply more focus to tapping digital menu screens.
As a result, the study revealed that lane deviation increased by over 40%
once touchscreen interaction was introduced. The vicious cycle then
continues.
Bring back buttons
We have already covered this extensively , but some manufacturers are reintroducing physical buttons for often-used features in a vehicle. This is, in part, a reaction to consumer backlash, but also because some of the
leading safety bodies will penalize automakers for an over-reliance on touchscreens in the future.
I strongly believe that things like volume control, lighting, window
de-misters and windscreen wipers should all be mapped to physical buttons
that can be committed to muscle memory after a few uses.
This means drivers dont have to go hunting through often hyper-sensitive touchscreens to activate very basic functionality. Getting stuck in a loop of mis-tapping, shuffling through incorrect menus or activating the wrong
function is frustrating but also very dangerous.
The research conducted by the University of Washington (UW) and Toyota
Research Institute suggests automakers look to reduce the number of menus required to perform a function, with hard-buttons implemented that can be customized to jump to the most used items.
Otherwise, it states that future systems should get smarter and adapt when it detects the driver is becoming more distracted, by enlarging buttons or limiting some functions when it deems things are becoming unsafe.
Unfortunately, it's simply much cheaper for modern automakers to commit absolutely everything to a touchscreen and then rely on software updates to improve things. Not only are we now faced with completely homogenous care interiors, but also the prospect of an increasingly button-free future.
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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/vehicle-tech/hybrid-electric-vehicles/shock-horror-i n-car-touchscreens-are-way-more-distracting-than-we-first-thought-says-new-stu dy
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