Mobile Phones, Car Safety and Touchscreens

Dials vs screens, and safety laws that don’t always make sense

A mobile phone being used by the driver of a car, near the steering wheel.
Photo by Omar Al-Ghosson on Unsplash

Mobile Phones and Driving

I don’t use my mobile phone while I’m driving. In a moving vehicle, it simply isn’t safe to look away from the road for more than a fraction of a second.

The law seems to agree with that. In the UK, things are getting even stricter, with new rules being introduced in 2022.

So why do so many new cars place more and more controls on touchscreens?

Old vs New Controls

Take the heater controls as an example.

In my old car, there are simple rotary knobs to control temperature, fan speed and direction. I don’t need to take my eyes off the road to make adjustments — I can feel what position the controls are in.

But with many modern cars, you have to select from a number of menu options on a touchscreen, before you can make an adjustment. And you have to look at the screen while you’re doing that, because your hands can’t ‘feel’ the current settings on the glass screen.

It’s a similar story with music. Simple direct controls have been replaced with complex hierarchical menu systems, which require the driver to look at them for much longer periods of time.

That’s very different to the old days, when I could insert a different audio cassette with little more than a brief glance.

Common Sense

While I do not think people should be using their phones while they are driving, there are some things about the laws which I find frustrating.

In particular, you are not allowed to use a mobile phone while you are parked at the side of the road if the engine is still running. When I used to pick up my children from primary school, that meant I couldn’t keep the car warm during cold weather. (I imagine drivers of electric vehicles don’t have this problem.)

Massive traffic jams can be another source of frustration. Some of my journeys require me to cross the Manchester Ship Canal using bridges that close to traffic when a ship is coming. If I get stuck waiting for the bridge, I can’t easily tell people I’m going to be late, because I’m not supposed to use my phone.

If it’s impossible for my car to go anywhere for fifteen minutes, I can’t see how it would do any harm to send a brief text message. But the law doesn’t always seem to be enforced with common sense, so I don’t dare take the risk of being fined.

* * * * *

While I’m avoiding as many risks as possible, it’s particularly annoying to see people gazing at their phones whilst driving along, and getting away with it.

And it seems ironic that as the rules get stricter for mobile phones, the car makers are building in ever more complex systems, that resemble tablet and phone screens.

* * * * *

Thank You

I hope you enjoyed reading this article. Please consider supporting me by:

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* * * * *

External References

Changes to UK mobile phone laws — gov.uk

Existing mobile phone driving laws — rac.co.uk

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