Company car fleets should consider removing touchscreen-only cars from choice lists on safety grounds, says a major automotive fleet expert.
FleetCheck warns of the corporate safety risks of cars where some major controls are only available through a touchscreen.
The warning comes after iPhone designer Jony Ive declared touchscreens “the wrong interface for cars” because they force drivers to remove their eyes from the road.
Ive recently led the design of the new Ferrari Luce interior, which contains physical controls including buttons and toggles.
“While there are early signs of a move away from placing everything on touchscreens, there are still some popular company cars included on choice lists that are touchscreen-only,” said FleetCheck CEO Peter Golding.
“It is probably time for fleets to consider whether this is the right thing to do. These vehicles are inherently risky, and there are plenty of alternatives that provide safer access to vehicle controls.”
‘Distracting for drivers’
Golding pointed to “a whole slew of credible studies showing they [touchscreens] are distracting for drivers and interrupt concentration to an unacceptable degree”.
Given how many modern driver assistance (ADAS) systems can only be adjusted or disabled via a touchscreen, “it’s a situation has been created almost inadvertently, where many drivers now spend a lot of time jabbing at touchscreens”.
Golding disagreed with claims that voice control options on touchscreen-heavy cars compensate for the lack of buttons.
“Studies show voice control is probably less dangerous than touchscreen use, but is still highly mentally distracting for the driver. Anyway, it often serves as a general annoyance, simply because many systems don’t work that well.”
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