Technology Can Overwhelm Drivers Instead Of Helping, Study Finds

Touchscreens in modern vehicles can increase distraction time because it is usually necessary to ... [+] look at the screen for a longer period, according to a new study.

Many vehicles on the market today are packed with all kinds of new technology designed to make driving safer and more comfortable, but are some of the systems too difficult to easily operate? Are touch displays and touch-sensitive buttons and controls, often hidden in the menu, too hard to reach, and does searching and finding them create a distraction? Does more tech lead to an increased safety risk?

Those are some of the questions addressed in new research by DEKRA, a company based in Germany that conducts automotive testing, inspection and crash research.

“This danger definitely exists,” Thomas Wagner, DEKRA’s traffic psychologist, said in a statement, especially in vehicles with which one is not familiar.

The analysis, announced on Tuesday, is part of DEKRA’s recently released Road Safety Report 2023 “Technology and People,” which looks at the risk potential in road traffic when technology and people interact.

Touchscreens these days are used for everything, from classic functions like operating navigation systems or accessing media, to newer usages, like controlling the air conditioning or even the windshield wiper.

For the study, the safety group conducted a test to show what challenges modern operating concepts pose in today's vehicles, during which 80 people were confronted with operating tasks. The evaluations were conducted in two vehicles of the same model, but from different years (2012 and 2022). The vehicles were stationary with the ignition switched on during the testing.

Tasks assessed included switching on the windshield wiper, windshield ventilation, radio, rear window defroster, low beam headlights and fog lights.

The results showed that overall, the majority of test subjects in the newer vehicle were often confused and needed much more time on average for all the tasks, researchers said, adding that in some cases it was more than twice as long.

“In principle, innovative touchscreen technologies with intelligent user guidance reduce the number of incorrect entries and the input times, which at the same time can minimize road safety risks, for example due to distraction,” Dr. Wagner said. But touchscreens in modern vehicles can also increase distraction time because it is usually necessary to look at the screen for a longer period.

“The reaction time of the touch display and the touch-sensitive buttons were complained about, as was the lack of haptic feedback, especially of the sensitive buttons,” according to the analysis (haptic is defined as relating to or based on the sense of touch).

Other problems were noted. Older people were found to be particularly challenged by the new tech, and there were considerable differences among the different manufacturers in terms of menu navigation and naming.

“When one drives vehicles from different manufacturers, such as when using rental cars or car sharing, problems are inevitable,” Dr. Wagner added.

Standardization of operating functions, more intuitive operating procedures, low-distraction design, including development of voice-controlled functions, and intensive training for users were among the report’s recommendations for solutions that offer “a lot of potential.”

For more information about DEKRA’s work in road safety, click here.