WardsAutomotive reports from the floor of [their very own] Automotive Interiors Show that electronics supplier Continental AG is in love with Vegas, baby. "What happens outside the car should also happen inside the car,” company rep Brian Droessler told the throngs. Huh? "The Internet in cars is coming," Droessler explains. "People want it.” So what about safety? "Continental’s new dual-mode display screen situated in a vehicle’s center stack. Based on the angle of the viewers, the screen shows one image to the driver and another to the front-seat passenger, without either person seeing what the other is viewing." In other words, the driver can look at maps and arrows while the passenger watches a Savannah Sampson movie. (Needless to say, the display system will be available in the U.S. in 2010.) No seriously. Safety is serious. Hence another Ward's article on in-car info overload. "Twenty-two percent of car accidents or near-accidents are due to non-driving related distractions, says Steve Polakowski, executive director-advanced interiors and electrical/electronics systems for Magna International Inc.’s Decoma International subsidiary." But really, we heart toys! Hence another article on a new sat nav system that predicts traffic jams, and routes (BMW?) drivers accordingly. Mixed messages? Nah. Just caring and sharing. [NB: equal time was given to fans of Eric Stromer.]
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I’m distracted already and can’t finish reading the article!
I don’t know about anyone else but I still prefer cars that don’t have navigation, numerous buttons all over the center stack and other features that really don’t enhance the actual experience of driving.
Give me excellent seats, a simple and clean interior layout with simply controls like rotary knobs, a manual transmission and electric adjustments and I’m golden.
T “T&A” AC?
I wouldn’t mind that particular in-car distraction.
Just three pedals, a stick, and a steering wheel. I don’t even want a radio. The exhaust note symphony should be enough.
I might want a fourth mirror for that right seat view though.
–chuck
What’s the text about, I wasn’t paying attention. Good lord, TTAC is giving me a little metal and flesh eye-candy everyday now. Excellent.
Yummy…
As long as she’s in the passenger seat it doesn’t really matter what I drive and how many display systems are available. It’s an accident waiting to happen anyway…
22% of car accidents or near-accidents are due to non-driving related distractions’.
Yes… I can understand that!
Huh, what was that? Sorry, I guess I wasn’t paying attention.
Mmmmm … TriShield said rotary knobs …
Now that’s my kind of in-car entertainment.
I don’t see any reason to attack nav systems. Ever get mad at another driver who was clearly lost? The kind looking for street signs instead of watching the road, slowing to a crawl at every intersection, feinting to turn one way and then jerking the other way instead? They’re more distracted than if they had a nav system in the car. I’m fine with those.
I do know a guy who likes to watch movies on his laptop as he commutes. Lovely.
That’s definitely a distraction.
For safeties sake, I prefer that any distractions to the driver be close to the windshield rather than lower in the car.
I’m with serpico…better move on to Bob Lutz…down, boy…..
Even so, can we please see what you didn’t use? Or at least direct us to it? I promise to come back soon!
Only 22%? I’d be willing to bet that statistic is much higher than that.
What’s so dangerous about air bags?
Well, according to this poll, drivers aren’t all that interested in all these doo-dads anyway, which is probably because they’re too busy talking on their cell phones while driving.
I’ve never heard them called ‘doo-dads’ before. Is it a chick thing?
Yeah, we get a free lexicon with every box of tampons.
hondagirl- Wow, just….. wow.
Glad to see my university representing such wonderful facts. Of course, being in Utah…they don’t get the distractions pictured above all that often. Pity.
Seriously, who has scrolled back to this news item more than once today? Business travel sucks, need to get home…
Who let hondagirl in here? (waves cigar smoke away) ;-)
I’m really glad I’m not drinking anything while reading this.
Thanks to Hondagirl for my biggest laugh of the week so far, and yes, bleach, definitely!
Where am I? How can I make the picture bigger. The picture I said!!
RF,
You REALLY know your audience.
Is downblouseamateur.com somehow related to TTAC?
I’m thinking that downblouseamateur is seeing a small spike in traffic right about now. No double entendre intended.
OK strange question; what kind of car is that?
show’s my priorities!
Nice, very Nice!
What’s a lexicon?
Speaking of distractions, and hopefully without reinforcing any stereotypes, I breaked the other day at a four way stop just after I had begun to move. An SUV drove through the intersection, sailing past the nose of my car…driven by a women looking in the vanity mirrow, diligently applying mascara. Just to even things out, I was forced onto the shoulder by some dude in an SUV steering with his knees while he used this thumbs to type away on his Blackberry.
People do not need more distractions.
All I see is another reason to drive an automatic.