It’s worth noting that the driver didn’t have their license suspended for adjusting their wipers. They had their license suspended because they crashed their car while adjusting their wipers. In the court’s opinion, interacting with the touchscreen distracted the driver sufficiently to lead to the crash.
The driver’s defense (that the touchscreen is a safety device because it also shows the speedometer) seems hard to fathom. Clearly if the driver was watching YouTube on the touchscreen, the fact that it also shows their speed wouldn’t have been relevant.
It seems more concerning that Tesla’s wiper controls can’t be operated in manual mode w/o visual attention from the driver. I own a Model 3, and I don’t think I could reasonably change the wiper settings w/o looking at the screen, despite knowing where the UI options are and their general layout.
That’s technically true but in the least useful way in practice.
The wiper switch on the left stalk has 2 behaviors: if you tap the button, the wiper swings a single time. If you hold the button, the wiper and wiper fluid activate for a handful of sweeps.
The analog stalk doesn’t offer any other wiper controls, like the ability to modify wiper speed or enable/disable continuous wiper functionality.
I’m not sure why the article includes that line without clarifying the specific nature of that interface.
Why would you design it that way? I mean, if you’re going to have a manual wiper control anyway, why make it so limited compared to what every other car can do?
This obsession with touchscreens over ones you can control by feel without looking[1] ... it’s ridiculous.
[1] sorry, anyone know the standard term for that?
I'm not sure what the standard term is either. I frequently use the term "tactile controls" to indicate controls that can be operated without looking at them.
For what it's worth, I think essentially ALL controls intended to be used while in motion in a car ought to be "tactile controls" by that definition -- the operator's gaze is NOT available while operating the vehicle.
(I'm OK if configuring bluetooth is done over a touchscreen, but NOT if turning on the radio or the windshield wipers is done that way.)
As somebody who is obviously not knowledgeable about why Tesla did it that way, but somebody who does own/drive a Model 3, I can only offer my conjecture:
It makes the controls simpler in a way that makes the parts and assembly cheaper. The Model 3 seems like Tesla tried very hard to streamline (read: cut corners) anywhere they reasonably could as part of lowering the cost to manufacture the car, in order to hit a more reasonable price point. The stalks already have a known history of breakage, many folks have had to have them replaced in relatively young Model 3s. I suspect somebody at Tesla HQ decided that having additional twisting elements or more control surfaces on them would have further increased cost.
Another potential rationale is that, from Tesla’s vantage point, those controls are vestigial. The automatic wiper sensor should handle wiper activation, rendering the stalk controls unnecessary. In practice, that sensor is still in need of further tuning. But if Tesla’s goal is to build the car of the future, it’s possible they’re willing to front-run the software in picking hardware choices.
Ford, Chevy, FCA, etc. wiper stalk design is ubiquitous even on extremely low price vehicles. They are even cheap to replace when they break. I'm betting you're closer on the latter
There is no twisting part on the stalks in a model 3, so you only have the option of short press and long press.
It is definitely the least safe part of the Model 3 imo. Having the rest of the controls on the screen is not a big deal but adjusting wiper settings can be important for safety and its not very intuitive.
Why don't they do what many other cars do, and put the wiper controls on its own stalk on the right-hand side of the wheel? Then they don't need any buttons at all, on either stalk (on my 2003 VW, the left stalk is for high beams and turn signals, the right stalk is for the wipers, and the steering wheel buttons are for cruise control).
This is called the “mist” button, a dedicated button to operate the wiper exactly once, and every car I’ve ever driven had one.
The button allows instant actuation of the wipers. There are times when you can get hit with water or mud unexpectedly so it’s nice to have. Any other adjustment can be made at a pre-planned moment with a single tap on the touchscreen, similar to checking blind spots or such.
Note that pressing “mist” also shows the wiper adjustment controls on the bottom-left corner of the screen, so you don’t have to swipe to navigate to them.
I agree that it’s good to have the button there, and prior cars I’ve driven also have it. I don’t think the existence of that button or its utility is in dispute.
It also doesn’t change my desire to have the ability to enable/disable continuous wiper operation via tactile control.
> I’m not sure why the article includes that line without clarifying the specific nature of that interface.
Two possible reasons I can think of, but there may well be more.
1. Cynical take: like all news the article is written with a point of view. Sometimes communicating that point of view is more important to the publication than the facts. In this case I suppose it might better fit their narrative to make the driver seem even less sympathetic and even more of an idiot.
2. More straightforward take: they're simply ignorant and too pushed for time/under delivery pressure, or possibly (though less likely) too lazy, to dig deeper into why the driver might use the touchscreen rather than the switch, not realising that the switch offers no ability to adjust wiper speed.
Either way, to me this makes the story less interesting and less useful. It could, for example, have provided an opportunity to challenge Tesla on one of their less than stellar decisions on interior and driving ergonomics. That's an opportunity missed. (I mean, I suppose we're doing that here, which is no bad thing.)
DISCLAIMER: I don't own and have never driven a Tesla so am unfamiliar with the division of responsibilities between touchscreen and physical switchgear. This makes (2) seem more likely to me but only based on my own experience.
Wow. It's hard to fathom how this car got approval to be on the road. Windshield wipers are a core component of a car. A car without a proper control for them should not be on the road. Every time it rains, Tesla drivers need to fiddle with the touchscreen? What's next, send a text message to turn on the lights at night?
This is a tangential point, but I find the use of the word "analog" for "physical control" very weird. To me, an "analog wiper switch" signifies something very different, and a system found on a lot of other cars: a knob connected to a potentiometer to allow adjusting the wipe delay infinitely, possibly combined with pure analog time-delay circuitry. Something like this:
Aside: does anyone still sell these wipers? Ever car I have ever used generally has a fairly infuriating set of options which I like to call the "anti-Goldilocks speeds" :(
Nope, I've actually had people defend this. Not convincingly, but they try.
I believe the official argument is that the controls on the actual steering wheel are programmable, so you don't usually need the touchscreen. But I mean.. Most people don't bother doing this kind of thing... They're lazy... Hell, I'm an emacs user for 30 years, but I've only ever used the default keybindings...
This touch screen obsession is why I won't buy a Model 3 or Y, despite being a potential customer.
I can only speak for myself, but I think the lack of core vehicle controls on analog / tactile interfaces is a major failure. That’s an opinion I hold for Tesla as well as other car manufacturers who have shifted vehicle controls to touchscreens.
I do love many other things about Tesla cars. I think generally, the sum total of things I love about the Model 3 outweighs the things I hate. For example, the automate wiper sensor is good enough that I generally don’t have to interact with the manual control, which mitigates my day-to-day distaste for it.
Regarding the name for people who hold conflicting views, I think “hypocritical” gets you pretty close.
Is it the same group of people? Isn't it possible that the set of people complaining about Ford's touchscreens is completely disjoint from the set of people loving Tesla's touchscreens, with no hypocrisy whatsoever? Or are people all just part of the same herd of consumer sheep?
- Ford's early (and I think current) touchscreen interfaces were pretty unintuitive and they were one of the few manufacturers in the US doing touch interfaces.
- Tesla has probably put a lot more into the UX of touch screen interaction (albeit completely ignoring the fact that touchscreens aren't great while driving).
- Now touchscreens are so normalized in new car sales that they're just accepted as a part of a new mid-top trim car, so the question of "should this really have a touchscreen?" is out of most buyers' minds.
There are exceptions to the "more touchscreen" trends with Mazda[1] recently dropping touchscreens in their new cars and Honda[2] following suit with some models. And in the Hondas that still have touchscreens, I believe most/all 2019+ models had at least knobs to operate radio volume and AC while looking at the road.
> Clearly if the driver was watching YouTube on the touchscreen, the fact that it also shows their speed wouldn’t have been relevant.
Watching YouTube (or Netflix or any of the other supported streaming services) on the touchscreen while the car is in motion, is not currently possible in Tesla vehicles. This is by design. Eventually, when fully autonomous driving is supported, watching videos on the touchscreen while the vehicle is in motion might be allowed.
Sort of. You can use the web browser while the car is in motion, and there are multiple sites devoted to streamlining media viewing via the browser. The browser can’t operate in full-screen mode while the car is in motion.
You’re correct that the native video apps are disabled while the car is in motion.
> It seems more concerning that Tesla’s wiper controls can’t be operated in manual mode w/o visual attention from the driver. I own a Model 3, and I don’t think I could reasonably change the wiper settings w/o looking at the screen, despite knowing where the UI options are and their general layout.
Even the budget no-frills "3", while lacking a lot of things that makes a Tesla a Tesla, has a more traditional wiper control. There's no reason to futz with the touchscreen.
Where? The only non-touchscreen wiper controls, as discussed elsewhere in this thread, are the push-button on the left stalk. Those controls offer a short-press for a single swipe of the wiper blades, or a long press for wiper fluid and a handful of swipes.
Both modes technically control the wipers, but they definitely do not remove the requirement to use the touch screen for wiper control.
If German drivers aren't legally allowed to use the touchscreen for basic driving tasks like adjusting the windshield wiper setting, then whatever German regulatory agency that let Tesla sell in Germany should not have allowed the car to be sold. (and if adjusting the wipers takes so much attention that it led to the crash, then arguably the car shouldn't be sold anywhere with that UI)
That's the thing I dislike the most about Tesla, that everything is run by the touchscreen. They should sell a modular dashboard gauge and button set for those that want real controls and gauges.
Because most car manufacturers put analog controls even if they are more limited and you have a warning in the touch controls or the manual that the screen can only be operated by a passenger or when the car is stationary.
While I can see your point it's possible that Tesla might have skirted the rules a bit by adding a lever that does activate the windshield wipers but doesn't allow you to control their speed. I don't understand this choice either but it's easy to imagine that legislators didn't predict someone would try this either.
Presumably the legally correct way would be to activate the windshield wipers when necessary and to pull over if you want to adjust their speed. Similar to how you're supposed to use GPS.
When you need to set a new destination in your GPS, you can wait until you get off at the next exit, but when you've started your trip in light rain and have your wipers on low, when it suddenly starts raining harder, I don't see how it's reasonable to expect a driver to wait until he can stop safely before he set's the wipers on "high".
Would be great if regulation could step in and enforce some rules around what we all know already - touchscreen controls in a car are vastly inferior to, and more dangerous than, physical knobs.
A lite touch to anything shouldn't activate something in a car. Drivers are effectively blind to anything else in the car while driving and controls should be design in such a way that the use of the drivers eyes are not required.
It is odd that this area got neglected, since one of the first things the FMVSS in the US mandated was the PRNDL shift pattern for automatic transmissions; one of the other patterns widely used at the time, PNDLR, was causing a lot of accidental shifts into reverse.
Pretty common around the world, especially when you have universal health care.
1) you’ve committed a traffic violation.
2) you’ve damaged property and caused a casualty even if it’s only one being yourself.
You won’t always end up in court but if the accident was due to a a severe failure on your part (and wasn’t unavoidable) for example drunk driving or using a cell phone it doesn’t matter if you hit a tree or another car as far as the law goes.
I've been in several single person accidents (all of them over 10 years ago, I was a super crappy driver as a teenager) that neither the police nor the courts nor insurance ever found out about
I’m assuming it would need to hit some threshold of property damage or injury to get on the cops radar.
If you just roll your own car and get it towed away, I wouldn’t be surprised the cops never find out. Slam into someone’s house and it’s harder to cover up!
Why? You're only limited by your imagination and pocketbook.
An attorney litigated a parking ticket in my city with a series of appeals that went on for like 15 years. IIRC, it was focused on the legality of designating a parking space for "official vehicles" or something like that.
I think the debate here is whether or not, Tesla's approach to their final user experience deteriorates the safety of the vehicle.
In this particular case the Wipers speed seems to be controlled from the screen, while in other cars speed can be controlled with the side lever without taking your eyes out of the road.
Those small and minor details can make the difference in at least a small percentage of accidents.
This is an example of how there are just some controls that must be tactile in a moving vehicle. You have to be able to use them w/o staring at a screen. And activating the wipers in the event of sudden rain seems like something that should've had controls.
Even then, I find on my car I must adjust the windshield wipers to conditions when driving through rain. If the rain gets heavier, then I turn them to a higher setting. This isn't possible with a Tesla? There's a physical control on it, but it seems to only do the fluid spray or a single swipe?
I get the big dash touchscreen yields software benefits through OTA, but a certain level of tactile is needed as long as there's a human driving.
Otherwise you get an incident like this where you can't safely engage the wipers.
Another thing that surprised me is that in a Tesla, of all things, one has to intervene in any way to turn on the wipers?
Why wouldn't they just turn on automatically when it's raining? My entry-level BMW from 2008 does this, as well as automatically adjust the speed depending on how hard it's raining. The OEM rain sensor part costs $230, and this is not a brand known for undercharging for parts.
I wonder what pilots think about the Model 3 interface.
I’m not one but I love all the buttons and knobs in and around my wheel. The 2020 Forester has a freakish number of them. But it lets me do so much without taking my hands off the wheel or eyes far from the dash if at all.
I wasn't sure if the budget "3" has the same controls the full-featured Tesla does, but it does (according to the article). There was no reason to use the touchscreen to turn on the wipers.
This is not true. On the S wiper speed is adjustable at the steering wheel as well as enable/disable. On the 3 you can just activate it or sprinkle water but not adjust the wiper speed.
I don't know. I have driven all Teslas (except the Y) at length, and I think I prefer the simplicity of the 3 UI overall (wiper controls on cars need trial and error to figure out esp if you change the car you drive often). This seems to be a one-off distraction issue blamed on this particular setting, but I seriously doubt that's a significant concern beyond the general "some rarely used controls are on the touchscreen" distraction problem, especially since the car has a pretty robust Autopilot assistant system that allows for a moment of looking at the screen.
I don't know... screens require you to actually look at them to be able to do anything while mechanical controls can be designed to be tactile and to not require the driver to be distracted/focused on the control.
I drive 2014 Skoda Rapid and every single control I really need for operating the car is tactile and operated through muscle memory.
Muscle memory effectively lets me offload my visual and conscious parts of brain.
For example, when driving in rain I just manually activate wipers when I need them, except for heavy rain. I don't move my eyes to operate it, it does not occupy my conscious brain, it just becomes second nature the same way other things become second nature when driving a car. I don't focus on it. I see something interesting I want to see better, I just run wipers without ever thinking about it the same way I don't have to remember to move my right and left leg to walk straight.
I can't imagine having to move my eyes and my hand at the same time to start fiddling with a screen and it just doesn't matter how good the UI is.
Touchscreens in cars should have been made illegal years ago. Manufacturers should be forced to recall and fix every single car that has one, even if it bankrupts them. This is such an obviously egregiously stupid thing to have ever implemented that they fully deserve to be on the hook for fixing it.
Anytime I change the AC or point a vent in another direction or grab something from the glove box I have to look away momentarily. Why are touchscreens so much more distracting for basic controls?
I'd bet you don't need to look at the controls to use your turn signals or parking brake. Pretty much every traditional control, including AC and radio, is designed for use by feel only: you jab your hand roughly in the right direction, find the control by feel (perhaps remembering that volume is the right dial, temperature is the left), and adjust it all without looking at it.
If you remember the ordering of the controls - which you automatically will after spending more time using them - you'll be able to blindly use them. The problem with touch screens is that, even if you know the exact location of the control, you still must look at the screen to find the exact location. You can't "walk" your finger over the touch screen and press the second button from the left. You can't use any form of muscle memory.
Sure, you must still look at the AC if you want to set it exactly at 25 degrees, but nobody does that anyway. You usually just want it to be a little bit cooler, so you twist the knob a tick or two counter-clockwise. And grabbing stuff from the glovebox? Personally, I'd consider that highly irresponsible. You simply shouldn't be doing that wile driving. Wait until you're stopped for a traffic light or something.
I don't have to look away for those things, but to be fair, I've been driving the same car for 10 years.
*As for your actual question, I'm no authority on this topic, but I suspect the precise hand-eye coordination requires much more of your focus. With your vent example, you can probably see it just fine using your peripheral vision, while staying mostly focused on the road. Failing that, you can at least keep that peripheral vision on the road while you focus on the vent. When you're focusing on a screen, you don't see anything else.
The huge central touchscreen in Tesla cars look hilariously ill-conceived. Perhaps they’re useful for some things, but if I was given the task of designing the most distraction-prone addition to a car interior, it would be a big screen pointed toward the driver.
I'm reminded of the early attempts at "smart" homes. After you have stumbled around in the dark a few time you learn to appreciate the simple utility of a mechanical switch.
The words "driver", "license" and "crash" have two sets of meaning in software and cars domains. Tesla intersects both domains. Took me a while to gather what was happening.
At the beginning I thought the person driving the car sued Tesla because the LCD driver crashed, and Tesla got its license to sell cars in Germany suspended.
You could have the best of both worlds - flexible but tactile controls if you had a small screen on every button. This has been done in a keyboard years ago: https://www.artlebedev.com/optimus/maximus/
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[ 4.2 ms ] story [ 195 ms ] threadThe driver’s defense (that the touchscreen is a safety device because it also shows the speedometer) seems hard to fathom. Clearly if the driver was watching YouTube on the touchscreen, the fact that it also shows their speed wouldn’t have been relevant.
It seems more concerning that Tesla’s wiper controls can’t be operated in manual mode w/o visual attention from the driver. I own a Model 3, and I don’t think I could reasonably change the wiper settings w/o looking at the screen, despite knowing where the UI options are and their general layout.
The article says this:
> the Tesla Model 3 is equipped with an analog wiper switch located on the wheel like most vehicles
The wiper switch on the left stalk has 2 behaviors: if you tap the button, the wiper swings a single time. If you hold the button, the wiper and wiper fluid activate for a handful of sweeps.
The analog stalk doesn’t offer any other wiper controls, like the ability to modify wiper speed or enable/disable continuous wiper functionality.
I’m not sure why the article includes that line without clarifying the specific nature of that interface.
This obsession with touchscreens over ones you can control by feel without looking[1] ... it’s ridiculous.
[1] sorry, anyone know the standard term for that?
I'm not sure what the standard term is either. I frequently use the term "tactile controls" to indicate controls that can be operated without looking at them.
For what it's worth, I think essentially ALL controls intended to be used while in motion in a car ought to be "tactile controls" by that definition -- the operator's gaze is NOT available while operating the vehicle.
(I'm OK if configuring bluetooth is done over a touchscreen, but NOT if turning on the radio or the windshield wipers is done that way.)
It makes the controls simpler in a way that makes the parts and assembly cheaper. The Model 3 seems like Tesla tried very hard to streamline (read: cut corners) anywhere they reasonably could as part of lowering the cost to manufacture the car, in order to hit a more reasonable price point. The stalks already have a known history of breakage, many folks have had to have them replaced in relatively young Model 3s. I suspect somebody at Tesla HQ decided that having additional twisting elements or more control surfaces on them would have further increased cost.
Another potential rationale is that, from Tesla’s vantage point, those controls are vestigial. The automatic wiper sensor should handle wiper activation, rendering the stalk controls unnecessary. In practice, that sensor is still in need of further tuning. But if Tesla’s goal is to build the car of the future, it’s possible they’re willing to front-run the software in picking hardware choices.
It is definitely the least safe part of the Model 3 imo. Having the rest of the controls on the screen is not a big deal but adjusting wiper settings can be important for safety and its not very intuitive.
Or is the gear shifter on the right stalk?
The button allows instant actuation of the wipers. There are times when you can get hit with water or mud unexpectedly so it’s nice to have. Any other adjustment can be made at a pre-planned moment with a single tap on the touchscreen, similar to checking blind spots or such.
Note that pressing “mist” also shows the wiper adjustment controls on the bottom-left corner of the screen, so you don’t have to swipe to navigate to them.
It also doesn’t change my desire to have the ability to enable/disable continuous wiper operation via tactile control.
Two possible reasons I can think of, but there may well be more.
1. Cynical take: like all news the article is written with a point of view. Sometimes communicating that point of view is more important to the publication than the facts. In this case I suppose it might better fit their narrative to make the driver seem even less sympathetic and even more of an idiot.
2. More straightforward take: they're simply ignorant and too pushed for time/under delivery pressure, or possibly (though less likely) too lazy, to dig deeper into why the driver might use the touchscreen rather than the switch, not realising that the switch offers no ability to adjust wiper speed.
Either way, to me this makes the story less interesting and less useful. It could, for example, have provided an opportunity to challenge Tesla on one of their less than stellar decisions on interior and driving ergonomics. That's an opportunity missed. (I mean, I suppose we're doing that here, which is no bad thing.)
DISCLAIMER: I don't own and have never driven a Tesla so am unfamiliar with the division of responsibilities between touchscreen and physical switchgear. This makes (2) seem more likely to me but only based on my own experience.
I find this to be an ironic proof of how touch screens are a vastly inferior interface to physical buttons.
https://siber-sonic.com/auto/sl6/delaywiper.html
Is there a psychological name for this?
No they don't. Nobody ever applauds this. People buy Teslas despite the touchscreen being the only way to do certain things, not because of it.
> Is there a psychological name for this?
"Making things up"?
I believe the official argument is that the controls on the actual steering wheel are programmable, so you don't usually need the touchscreen. But I mean.. Most people don't bother doing this kind of thing... They're lazy... Hell, I'm an emacs user for 30 years, but I've only ever used the default keybindings...
This touch screen obsession is why I won't buy a Model 3 or Y, despite being a potential customer.
I do love many other things about Tesla cars. I think generally, the sum total of things I love about the Model 3 outweighs the things I hate. For example, the automate wiper sensor is good enough that I generally don’t have to interact with the manual control, which mitigates my day-to-day distaste for it.
Regarding the name for people who hold conflicting views, I think “hypocritical” gets you pretty close.
- Ford's early (and I think current) touchscreen interfaces were pretty unintuitive and they were one of the few manufacturers in the US doing touch interfaces.
- Tesla has probably put a lot more into the UX of touch screen interaction (albeit completely ignoring the fact that touchscreens aren't great while driving).
- Now touchscreens are so normalized in new car sales that they're just accepted as a part of a new mid-top trim car, so the question of "should this really have a touchscreen?" is out of most buyers' minds.
There are exceptions to the "more touchscreen" trends with Mazda[1] recently dropping touchscreens in their new cars and Honda[2] following suit with some models. And in the Hondas that still have touchscreens, I believe most/all 2019+ models had at least knobs to operate radio volume and AC while looking at the road.
[1] https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1121372_why-mazda-is-pur...
[2] https://jalopnik.com/honda-follows-mazda-by-ditching-some-to...
EDIT: getting used to formatting
Watching YouTube (or Netflix or any of the other supported streaming services) on the touchscreen while the car is in motion, is not currently possible in Tesla vehicles. This is by design. Eventually, when fully autonomous driving is supported, watching videos on the touchscreen while the vehicle is in motion might be allowed.
You’re correct that the native video apps are disabled while the car is in motion.
Even the budget no-frills "3", while lacking a lot of things that makes a Tesla a Tesla, has a more traditional wiper control. There's no reason to futz with the touchscreen.
Both modes technically control the wipers, but they definitely do not remove the requirement to use the touch screen for wiper control.
That's the thing I dislike the most about Tesla, that everything is run by the touchscreen. They should sell a modular dashboard gauge and button set for those that want real controls and gauges.
Presumably the legally correct way would be to activate the windshield wipers when necessary and to pull over if you want to adjust their speed. Similar to how you're supposed to use GPS.
Keep the drivers eyes on the road.
...is the subtitle. Might have been nice to say in the headline, which is clickbait.
1) you’ve committed a traffic violation.
2) you’ve damaged property and caused a casualty even if it’s only one being yourself.
You won’t always end up in court but if the accident was due to a a severe failure on your part (and wasn’t unavoidable) for example drunk driving or using a cell phone it doesn’t matter if you hit a tree or another car as far as the law goes.
This is the key right here. It's the state trying to recoup their costs from you.
If you get a DUI or are negligent and cause injury or accident you’ll end up in court.
If you just roll your own car and get it towed away, I wouldn’t be surprised the cops never find out. Slam into someone’s house and it’s harder to cover up!
An attorney litigated a parking ticket in my city with a series of appeals that went on for like 15 years. IIRC, it was focused on the legality of designating a parking space for "official vehicles" or something like that.
Wake me up when this becomes actual news and not a single anecdote.
In this particular case the Wipers speed seems to be controlled from the screen, while in other cars speed can be controlled with the side lever without taking your eyes out of the road.
Those small and minor details can make the difference in at least a small percentage of accidents.
It’s like people who have no experience with Tesla vehicles hate the company for whatever reason and are looking for validation of their judgement.
Even then, I find on my car I must adjust the windshield wipers to conditions when driving through rain. If the rain gets heavier, then I turn them to a higher setting. This isn't possible with a Tesla? There's a physical control on it, but it seems to only do the fluid spray or a single swipe?
I get the big dash touchscreen yields software benefits through OTA, but a certain level of tactile is needed as long as there's a human driving.
Otherwise you get an incident like this where you can't safely engage the wipers.
Why wouldn't they just turn on automatically when it's raining? My entry-level BMW from 2008 does this, as well as automatically adjust the speed depending on how hard it's raining. The OEM rain sensor part costs $230, and this is not a brand known for undercharging for parts.
I’m not one but I love all the buttons and knobs in and around my wheel. The 2020 Forester has a freakish number of them. But it lets me do so much without taking my hands off the wheel or eyes far from the dash if at all.
I drive 2014 Skoda Rapid and every single control I really need for operating the car is tactile and operated through muscle memory.
Muscle memory effectively lets me offload my visual and conscious parts of brain.
For example, when driving in rain I just manually activate wipers when I need them, except for heavy rain. I don't move my eyes to operate it, it does not occupy my conscious brain, it just becomes second nature the same way other things become second nature when driving a car. I don't focus on it. I see something interesting I want to see better, I just run wipers without ever thinking about it the same way I don't have to remember to move my right and left leg to walk straight.
I can't imagine having to move my eyes and my hand at the same time to start fiddling with a screen and it just doesn't matter how good the UI is.
I'd bet you don't need to look at the controls to use your turn signals or parking brake. Pretty much every traditional control, including AC and radio, is designed for use by feel only: you jab your hand roughly in the right direction, find the control by feel (perhaps remembering that volume is the right dial, temperature is the left), and adjust it all without looking at it.
If you remember the ordering of the controls - which you automatically will after spending more time using them - you'll be able to blindly use them. The problem with touch screens is that, even if you know the exact location of the control, you still must look at the screen to find the exact location. You can't "walk" your finger over the touch screen and press the second button from the left. You can't use any form of muscle memory.
Sure, you must still look at the AC if you want to set it exactly at 25 degrees, but nobody does that anyway. You usually just want it to be a little bit cooler, so you twist the knob a tick or two counter-clockwise. And grabbing stuff from the glovebox? Personally, I'd consider that highly irresponsible. You simply shouldn't be doing that wile driving. Wait until you're stopped for a traffic light or something.
*As for your actual question, I'm no authority on this topic, but I suspect the precise hand-eye coordination requires much more of your focus. With your vent example, you can probably see it just fine using your peripheral vision, while staying mostly focused on the road. Failing that, you can at least keep that peripheral vision on the road while you focus on the vent. When you're focusing on a screen, you don't see anything else.
I'm reminded of the early attempts at "smart" homes. After you have stumbled around in the dark a few time you learn to appreciate the simple utility of a mechanical switch.
At the beginning I thought the person driving the car sued Tesla because the LCD driver crashed, and Tesla got its license to sell cars in Germany suspended.