via MSN:
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You probably already know this, but it takes longer to perform specific tasks in new cars with many menu screens. If you didn’t already know this, a Swedish auto magazine proved it with science.
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Vi Bilägare tested a dozen vehicles—primarily new but also one 2005 Volvo—to see how long it took to perform a series of four tasks. It took 10 seconds in the old car and up to 45 in one of the new models.
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By timing the tasks as the vehicles were in motion, we can see how a simple thing like turning on the radio to a specific station can mean a driver’s eyes and focus are on the screen much more than they used to be.
Future drivers may look back at the current trend of replacing swaths of simple, physical buttons with touchscreens and wonder why we let this happen. The Volkswagen ID.4, for example, uses an almost entirely digital dashboard (pictured below) that makes using the infotainment system a headache. Eliminating or minimizing the number of physical buttons may look clean, but a new report from Sweden shows how touchscreens and endless pages of menus cause, in a sense, distracted driving.