[jacquesm]

How about the speedometer dial, the fuel and the oil temp gauges?

Those need to be checked regularly as well and they occupy mindshare. You even need to focus on them and given that they are a lot closer than the road that takes time away from the road, refocus, then inspect the dials then look back out of the front windshield and re-focus.

Driving itself is a multi-tasking effort.

The number of buttons and indicators in a car (especially a high end one) can be quite distracting.

And not checking your speed diligently where I live gets expensive really quickly, 3 km over the actual limit (as checked by the GPS) will get you a ticket. So I actually drive with the GPS 'on' even when I know perfectly well where I'm going because it checks my speed without me looking at it.

[barrkel]

I think the speedo dial is a dangerous distraction when speed cameras are about. I know I focus almost entirely on the speedo and only use peripheral vision for the road ahead when going past a speed camera.

When there's no speed camera or other risk of speed trap, I don't pay attention to numeric speed at all. Instead, I drive to the conditions, and approximately follow the speed limit as appropriate - but I may be 5 or 10 over or under depending on how clear the road ahead is of hazards.

Fuel, oil and other gauges don't change constantly and don't demand attention with flashing and animations, unless something is seriously wrong - in which case the vehicle should be stopped.

I should add, though, I don't actually drive. I ride a motorcycle and scooter, daily, all year round in London. Anything less than 100% focus is a quick route to A&E.

[jacquesm]

In NL they claim the speed cameras are for safety. I'd believe that if they put them in places where people go faster than the 'safe speed', but instead they put them in places where there is a ton of traffic. I suspect that there is an economical motive at work here rather than a safety motive but I can't prove that.

All I do know is that I spend too much time checking that damn dial. So I fixed that by setting the GPS to warn me with an audible alarm when I get to 1 km over the GPS measured speed compared to the posted limit of the road I'm on (it adjusts those automatically). Very useful.