TOUCH SCREEN CAR DASHBOARDS AS SERIOUS DANGER FOR CAUSING TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS

More and more sophisticated cars have also very modern cockpit boards full of information, with many buttons, touch-screen interactions, commands on steering wheel, radio, A/C, etc. We know how dangerous alcohol is and its influence on prolonging driver's reaction time. In recent years, there is also a strong action against using a phone during driving. Searching through the phone menu is taking attention off the road. Similarly, drivers with new cars need several months to learn approximately where particular/some commands can be found. We have measured time periods necessary to find different commands. For example, activating A/C takes 1.0 s -2.0 s. In the case of car moving with speed of 50 km/h through the city, this means traveling along a path of 14 m – 28 m without any control (by speed of 120 km/h, this corresponds to 33 m – 66 m). Additional fact is also the existence of a red triangle emergency button that is becoming smaller and smaller and thus poorly visible in new cars. To find this button, driver again needs more than one second in most critical situations, when full concentration focused on the road is needed. This paper presents different car dashboards and measured necessary times for obtaining control. Results are followed by discussion and the suggestions to the drivers how to deal with the raised problem.