More and better killers in your future car

Many people understand that alcohol and driving do not match. The cellphone is for many people still acceptable but the addiction to technology adds the next killer in cars.
That driving does not match with non-driving activities is only slowly accepted by those that do drive cars. Like women that claim they can multi-task while males cannot, drivers are hesitatingly accepting proof to the contrary. And that is true for all sexes.

First there are the promotion campaigns to limit drinking. Drinking is of course not good for your health but in combination with cars, the driver becomes a killer for people and other animals. Then laws are designed, alcohol limits are installed, imposed and over many years lowered by government. In some countries to as low as 0 promille. A fruit bowl or fruit salad may take you over that limit if it has been on the table for a long period.

But even in countries with strict laws social habits are strong. Even drivers who intend to drive purely on gasoline do take drinks under pressure from peers. I know, I've been there but nowadays I tend to become hostile to 'friends' who push alcohol my way while they know I do not want to be tempted. And I am easily tempted. So true enforcement is the only way. And not just those that are far over the limit, like in the tv real life shows but any digression.

Then the cell phone enters the stage. When Nokia was still the ruling brand you could pick up a phone from its cradle, dial a number and stick the phone in the cradle. Without taking your eyes from the road and dials. And being called you could click the 'any key' and you had a connection. Still, calling interferes with road concentration. Even talking to the passenger interferes with road concentration.

The next concentration killer is the satellite navigation or satnav. As long as drivers set up their route while in house or office, there is little issue. But, technology is made to fail so, while driving, the satnav freezes or shuts down. Panic in the car, efforts to revive the system, swerving the road, failed attempts to park. An accident about to happen.

This becomes worse when car manufacturers add satnav to their cars. This increases the screen size, leading to more eyes to the screen, but also drivers cannot prepare their satnav in house. Since they must do so in the car, they are already starting the engine and slowly drive away, while typing the last letters of the destination.....

If that's not enough, the manufacturer, the importer, the garage can but will not update the satnav data-set unless for a hefty fee. Prices supersede the price of a smart phone, the next subject of my overview of mishaps on the road. Unless this is solved, people in older cars (older than two years) will try to enter roads that are closed, look for highways that are relayed or try parking at odd places.

Next comes the smart phone, if ever there was anything dumber than that. I hope we are all aware that smart phones (or 'mobiles') suck away your creativeness, your available memory, your concentration. But it also means less hardware units and that's an improvement of life.

Smart phones bring back the option to plan your route in advance, while still at school, office or at home. And they fit nicely on the dashboard, as long as you do not use a tablet. But mobiles do a lot more, they provide call functionality, text messaging and social interaction. And they can be used as dashcam, a video camera to take movies of drunken Russian road kills. So, more than enough distraction while on tour, you'd think.

Mobiles also provide your own music and on-line radio. You can even connect the mobile to the engine, so you have an overview of brake use, real speed, revs, temperature and 50-odd other measurements your car's computer processes every second. What if any of these functions or apps brakes down while driving? How much distraction can a driver take?

Countries increasingly prohibit cell and smart phone use by drivers. These laws go from 'no manual holding' to 'no use' or even 'no phone'. But enforcement is legally complicated and usage difficult to prove.

To add to the confusion, car manufacturers extend their touch screen applications. From the original satnav functionality these now extend to presenting information on car performance, as described above. And they may handle calls to your phone by diverting info to the screen and using the car audio for the call.

This move is bad for business! In several cases already you are forced to use the car's satnav, even if you have a perfect system on your mobile. The deal then includes connections between the car and a specific mobile phone brand. To use the functionality of this car brand, you need to buy that brand mobile. In a short while it will be the other way around: if you use that mobile brand, you can only use these car brands!

I just watched a super-car manufacture documentary on tv and then it hit me.

Tesla touch screen dashboard

Car manufacturers do not just replace your satnav and phone by their own system, they also replace the dashboard full of knobs, switches and dials by a touch screen version. The touch screen in a car is nothing more or less than a downgraded tablet (such as the iPad). As we all may have experienced, tablets and mobiles are not full-proof. They tend to break down, screens break. This can also happen to the car's touch screen: it blanks out, refuses to react to touch, screen freeze, broken glass, moist creep. Fine while driving. No doubt double or triple the price of a similar sized tablet.

To add insult to injury, the addition of the touch screen changes the way the driver has to handle the car. So we add not just the satnav and radio, but also ventilation and temperature, handling car windows and roof, adjusting road performance, changing gears. Because the screen is just a slab of glass, you have no touch feedback on what you are doing.

You can handle a classic car audio system blindfolded once you're used to the car. You can change the temperature, handle the air conditioning, change the lighting all on touch. Besides, all systems are available at all times at the same location on the dash. On a screen, each group of functions gets a separate tab or screen, so you need to switch to the correct screen for ventilation.

Simply put, a touch screen in a car forces the driver to take his eyes off the road. He/she needs to look at the screen to know where to put a finger. And you cannot use voice control when driving with windows or roof open. Jet pilots also use knobs, switches and dials. There's a reason for that. He/she also wants to come home alive.

Copyrights picture Michal Kaczmarek [WLKP Spotters]