[rdez6173]

Nope. Greed.

It costs way more to build out physical ergonomic interior controls when they are permanent fixtures for several model years and any changes require new physical elements to be created and fit (and designed for mass production).

Software can be updated over the air, so there's less pressure on engineers to get it perfect.

The solution is not to point fingers and guess, but instead measure and revise. Study the amount of time drivers' eyes are off the road for routine tasks, develop acceptable limits and enforce them.

Software engineers of any ilk are just as capable of following sensible guidelines if everyone else in the company is obliged to as well.