Touchscreens are Unsafe

Touchscreens are unsafe, full stop. Using a touchscreen forces you to take your eyes off of driving because you can’t use muscle memory to adjust the control you’re looking for. Volvo, of all automobile manufacturers, should not put touchscreens in their products.

There, I said it. That’s my manifesto in a nutshell, but I’ll go on to round out my point, because this bothers me with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns.

Today’s Volvo safety tech, a partial list:

• Lidar
• Driver understanding system
• Occupant sensing
• Collision avoidance
• Lane keeping
• Run-off road mitigation
• Cross-traffic alert with auto brake
• Blind Spot Information System (BLIS)
• Surround view camera
• Speed cap
• Care key
• Connected safety
• Airbags

Offering a mix of new intelligent and long-established safety features, we’re aiming for zero collisions.

https://www.volvocars.com/us/v/safety/features

“Aiming for zero collisions”? By having drivers look down and to the side to find the control hidden a level down in the touchscreen navigation to turn the heated seat on? Really?

That’s not going to help with this zero collisions thing, Volvo.

Or should we pull over to do this task?

Some things in life make sense. Some things don’t. Volvo’s adoption of touchscreens is one that does not make sense. No, let me rephrase that: Volvo’s adoption of touchscreens makes sense if Volvo’s aim is to either a) save money, or b) do what every other auto maker does.

Or both. But that’s not what Volvo is. Ask anyone what the #1 safe car is and you’re likely to get “Volvo” as your answer. Of course you are. Volvo and safety are synonymous!

Whatever Volvo’s intention, touchscreens in cars are less safe than buttons. (This isn’t just me picking nits. There is actual data.)

VB tested 11 new cars alongside a 2005 Volvo C70, timing how long it took to perform a list of tasks in each car. These included turning on the seat heater, increasing the cabin temperature, turning on the defroster, adjusting the radio, resetting the trip computer, turning off the screen, and dimming the instruments.

The old Volvo was the clear winner. “The four tasks is handled within ten seconds flat, during which the car is driven 306 meters at 110 km/h [1,004 feet at 68 mph],” VB found. Most of the other cars required twice as long, or more, to complete the same tasks.

There are no climate control buttons in the EX30, for instance. There are no heated seat or radio buttons either. These are found in the touchscreen. (For that matter, there is no speedometer or any other gauges, no high-beam indicator… those too are in the touchscreen.)

Volvo’s touchscreen decision is a Class A design crime. There will be more collisions because of this choice, and Volvo will realize this and pivot to less dependence on the touchscreen in later revisions of the upcoming EX30, EX90, and ES90. They will put physical buttons back in. Mark my words.