[aeonfox]

While we're dreaming, just have an interchangeable panel. Allow 3rd parties to make whatever dials etc. the customer wants. And if it were up to me I'd also get rid of the screen entirely and only have a HUD for navigation. It will never happen, let alone become mainstream, but dreaming is nice sometimes.

[dzhiurgis]

Basically what Tesla does - near perfect touchscreen, but also easy to add third party buttons.

[aeonfox]

I was imagining a console that's at easy arms reach that's fixed into interior and don't require taking eyes of the road. The S3XY buttons look pretty cool, but they don't seem to be able to give you the resistive feel of something fastened to the interior. The Knob provides something like a console, but it seems pretty limited in how many tactile options it provides and you still need to take your eyes of the road. A number of simple dials with tactile clicks and fixed positions provide a user interface that don't require visual confirmation.

And touchscreens are another visual distraction. I think they're a contributor to the increasing vehicle accident and mortality rates. Ideally, nothing should take your mind/eyes off the road. A HUD for navigation and dashboard guages/alerts is about all anyone 'needs' in terms of display, but in the end it's about what individuals want, human lives be damned.

[dzhiurgis]

> increasing vehicle accident and mortality rates

Except they are decreasing...

> HUD

Except HUD is kinda worse than center console: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S13698...

(I say kinda because you still get a bit of peripheral vision from HUD. Traditional dash behind steering wheel is undoubtedly worse - this has been proven decades ago).

[aeonfox]

> Except they are decreasing...

This data says otherwise. I'm certain pedestrian mortality has been increasing, and by the looks of this graph it looks like 'other road user' deaths are trending up too. If you have data to support your claim, keen to see it.

https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/road-users/pedestr...

> Except HUD is kinda worse than center console

The glance time might be affected by a lack of contrast? Or perhaps the novelty of using a HUD? It's possibly right, but I'd want to see more study on the 'why' it's worse and whether that's a technical thing.

[dzhiurgis]

US seems outlier while rest of the world fatalities are decreasing - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in...

This also needs to be divided per miles driven as those are constantly increasing.

Finally, my guess pedestrians are disproportionately more at fault here - mostly impairment (meth, fentanyl), but also smartphones and headphones in particular. Drivers are mostly distracted by phones mostly, not by adjusting climate controls for 2-3 seconds.

[aeonfox]

> US seems outlier while rest of the world fatalities are decreasing

Europe can be explained by pedestrianisation of cities, congestion taxes, separated bike lanes that encourage bike use, vehicle safety standards that—at least until recent loopholes have emerged—have been keeping dangerous vehicles off the road. Even still, if you look at that graph you'll notice a little uptick in the last 5 years, curiously around the time that screens became more prevalent, but also...

> my guess pedestrians are disproportionately more at fault here - mostly impairment (meth, fentanyl),

A-pillar sizes and bonnet heights have all been increasing, reducing visibility of pedestrians. Sounds like a larger factor to me. People have been getting high and drunk behind the wheel for decades, but maybe it's more prevalent now?

> not by adjusting climate controls for 2-3 seconds.

That's really all it takes if a kid decides to chase after a ball on a side street. You might have seen them before they ran from one side past behind an occluding object and emerged on the other, with not enough time for automated systems to respond (if they respond). A lot can change in 2-3 seconds, and I'd be surprised to hear an experienced driver say otherwise.

I think I've said as much as I can.

[Zigurd]

We've decided that using trucks as gender-affirming care is more important than the lives of vulnerable road users. Denmark should see that as a hint.