There used to be a time when a Sunday afternoon consisted of taking a relaxing drive and getting away from work and household chores for an hour or so. In 2017, such is no longer the case with millions of people juggling so many activities, and schedules with school, and balancing out time for your children, it almost seems impossible to take off for an hour just to enjoy a scenic ride. Being in the car previously was considered a peaceful, quiet time, and due to the extreme technical changes cars have adhered to, now going for a ride can be rather stressful and taxing.
Touch screens for example, are becoming a task now even if you hop in the car for a quick trip to the grocery store. Gone are the days of being “unreachable”, and now emails, texts, phone calls, and trying to manage streaming your favorite music during your drive is all a tad overwhelming. When BMW initially came out with the fancy touch screen in 2001 people were just not ready for that kind of technology. Some embraced it, while others thought the car brand was too “futuristic”.
Admittedly, the screens have come a long way in the past 16 years. Shortcut buttons for instance have been a huge time saver, but all in all, the screens still cause a major distraction from driving carefully with both eyes on the road. Even knowing that, car manufacturers are not making any new models without the screens in them going forward, so it looks like they need to be embraced by all as they aren’t going away anytime soon.
In a recent article on Automobile Magazine, the author is pushing for the touch screen to go, but we all know that isn’t happening. The silver lining to the screens is that they are easy to update and download loads of cool features to make your commute much more fun. Features like car tracking apps, and telling you when the car requires maintenance are two excellent examples of how the screens can really improve safety for millions of drivers. Just always try to keep your eyes on the road as much as possible, and pull over to adjust things like music playlists, and GPS navigation to ensure the safest drive for you and your precious cargo.
