Thread: Ban on Auto Apps? Serisously, people actually want to.

Umm, I'd be drawing the wrong crowd!
:-P

HiJackZX1 - I think we are similar - hence my comments.

I speed - albeit selectively (and since getting a GPS - less than I thought).

But I had a certain learning path that led to rally driving ('cos street drifting was too risky - or rather - too upsetting for oncoming divers), and I was also into motorbikes (as self eliminating craft).

Unfortunately for the authorities et al, I also understand statistics and how they are collected as well as HFE (Human Factors Engineering - ie, behavior, psychology, evolution; pathology) as well as technologies. Oh - and "scientific methodology" (man I miss that!), marketing, and modern economy. (The 4 Pees that get Pssed on.)

I try to point out how fatalities and accidents DECREASED when speed limits INCREASED in certain areas, that "lack of speed" is a bigger killer etc.

Alas, the GF calls. I don't want to get killed through lack of duty.
You know the rest.
As to people being "against" a certain level of control... Ha!

Everything's a distraction. It's about the driver, it's ALL about the driver.

Some people can do 2 or 3 things at once, some can't.

I admit that I sometimes will do short text messages while I drive. My wife is always giving me crap about it.

Here's the problem: I was doing two things at once...driving, and texting. Now, I'm doing THREE things at once...driving, texting, and arguing with her about it. She's not helping the situation, she's making it worse.

She's also a HORRIBLE passenger. Ever try to drive when the person next to you is reading a paper? Turning the pages, opening it all the way, folding it back on it'self, crinkling the paper...man, that's distracting!!

Or, we'll be driving along and, then suddenly, without warning, she's like "OH MY GOD!!!"

I'm looking all around in a panic, trying to find the car that's about to hit us!!! "What? What is it???"

"Everything at Macy's is 50% off this weekend! I need to call Kim and tell her!"


So...what's the answer? Ban cell phones? Ban even using a handsfree system? Ban conversations with passengers? Ban music in the car? Great, all distractions gone...and people crash because they fell asleep behind the wheel.

EDIT:

P.S. Oh, I love this quote from the article - "Oprah Winfrey wants a ban on the use of mobile devices in the car."

That's great...coming from someone who is chauffer-driven EVERYWHERE she goes. The ban wouldn't effect her one bit. She'd still be able to work on her laptop, taking/make phone calls on her cell phone, and continue to run her empire.

This is akin to Rosie O'Donnell wanting to ban all handguns. No one...NO ONE...should be allowed to have a gun. Well, except for her bodyguards of course...they need guns.

I see a lot of knee-jerk reactions in this thread. At some point, using a car PC *is* more distracting than not using a car PC. Merely denying it does not make it so.

A car PC might have bluetooth integration and the ability to send text messages. Should people be able to do that? Texting and driving is universally agreed to be bad, but at least someone can hold their phone in front of them while they drive and be able to see the road in their periphery. Not so much with my hypothetical car PC app.

The very fact that I'm taking part in *this* forum implies I'm not against car PCs. But just because I like car PCs doesn't preclude me from acknowledging the possibility that a car PC *can* be dangerous. And little discussion here appears to be doing that non-facetiously, and discussing how to make them less dangerous.


Heather brought up a good point, of course:

one can designs apps to be used intuitively while driving

The question is, how can people without any experience doing human interface design actually know that what they're making is able to be used effectively while driving? How many HIGs have they read recently? What other things have they read about human interface design recently? How do they know they're making an intuitive interface that can be used with only a tiny amount of concentration rather than devoting 75% of your mental facilities to it for a brief period?

The openly hostile way to put this is "a lot of skins I've seen on this forum for RR are absolutely impossible to use without devoting a lot of attention to them". Don't argue, it's true. For example, if your buttons all have the same theme, aren't button shaped, and your skin doesn't contain fairly high contrasts, it'll take longer for your eye to find stuff on it than otherwise.


For another example of what I see as arguably dangerous: Almost all car PCs use a touchscreen. I have an iPod touch, but I don't actually use it while driving: In order to change songs, I have to click the button at the bottom, look at the screen to drag the swipey thing across to unlock, and then look for the button to change song. My iPod classic is what I use all the time because I can change songs on that without even looking at it. I have seen almost no people using gestures for basic operations in their car PC [or if I have, it's been highly experimental, and certainly not widely adopted]. I do like some of the tactile button stuff I've seen, but not many people have posted pictures of themselves actually using it.


Personally, I would be interested to see some discussion of how you make your interface easier to use with less distraction.


Since this post obviously isn't long enough yet, I'll reply to a few specifics:

How far do we take this though?

Well, that's exactly the point. I feel that some of the car PC/skin setups I've seen on this forum *are* actively dangerous. Things that, when it comes down to it, will be trotted out as evidence; "your honor, this is an example of what the car PC industry allows users to do while driving. This is clearly worse than texting, which you've already banned. The defense rests".

I admit that I sometimes will do short text messages while I drive. My wife is always giving me crap about it.

Here's the problem: I was doing two things at once...driving, and texting. Now, I'm doing THREE things at once...driving, texting, and arguing with her about it. She's not helping the situation, she's making it worse.

In addition, if I were to carry on texting while my wife was actively arguing with me about it, there'd be hell to pay. I find your lack of common sense disturbing.

If texting is bad, then come up with a solution to make texting hands free, not ban it or put restrictions on it.

A prime example of a positive approach. Now... who's worked on this?

BUT! What about normal gages? When I was driving my garage queen I spent most of my time watching the oil temp

And thus there is a hundred years of experience and literature on the topic, with a lot of fairly firmly established standards that make it all better. Not so much for touchscreens yet.


I don't have answers or solutions, but I'm unconvinced that this huge thread of mostly knee-jerks is really the way to go either.
Gary (-;

The new google voice actions allows you to send a text and email completely via voice. Such technologies could be ported to any version of android, someone could make an awesome car ready android skin run android in the car and boom, you can send texts and emails and call people without ever taking a finger off the wheel. Safety at its finest.

Originally Posted by chunkyks

For another example of what I see as arguably dangerous: Almost all car PCs use a touchscreen. I have an iPod touch, but I don't actually use it while driving: In order to change songs, I have to click the button at the bottom, look at the screen to drag the swipey thing across to unlock, and then look for the button to change song. My iPod classic is what I use all the time because I can change songs on that without even looking at it. I have seen almost no people using gestures for basic operations in their car PC [or if I have, it's been highly experimental, and certainly not widely adopted]. I do like some of the tactile button stuff I've seen, but not many people have posted pictures of themselves actually using it.

I don't use a touchscreen for my CarPC. I use the Space Navigator knob. It allows me to change audio sources and select different stations/playlists/songs/channels/etc. without taking my eyes off the wheel.

I also have an aftermarket head-up speedometer installed, so I can keep my eyes on the road as much as possible.

This is turning into a non constructive argument. The insults aren't needed. Lets stick to the objectives from the start of the thread.

What insults? I think the convo is actually going fairly well. Point is, people now a days are 2 relaxed when driving, while trying to do multimedia things and not paying attention to driving. The thing is, should people that are good drivers be punished because of bad drivers.

Originally Posted by HiJackZX1

What insults? I think the convo is actually going fairly well. Point is, people now a days are 2 relaxed when driving, while trying to do multimedia things and not paying attention to driving. The thing is, should people that are good drivers be punished because of bad drivers.

Exactly. My mother cannot muti-task while driving. She gets flustered if she has to change the speed of the windshield wipers while the car is in motion.

And because of this, YOU cannot have a radio in your car.

Or...and this is a wacky idea, I know, but hear me out...we could judge people as individuals.

Making something illegal doesn't actually stop people from doing it. Just ask the vicims of gun violence in DC and/or Chicago. "But, there can't be any guns...they're illegal!!"

Educate people. REAL driver training.