Questionable safety of heads-up displays

[PMCErnie]

Keep this in mind while you are playing with your heads-up display.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...6afdf6-95e5-11e4-927a-4fa2638cd1b0_story.html

 

[ksoze]

Keep this in mind while you are playing with your heads-up display.

Not sure drivers "play" with a HUD anymore than they play with the speedometer.

The article reinforces what is common sense - the display should show critical items that aid in the drivers ability to drive safely - text messages, FB status and other distractions are just that - distractions. Items that would require a driver to look down (as in checking speed, nav turns, etc.) may be better placed in the general field of vision which comprises attention less.

 

[PMCErnie]

I am more in tune with the comments of this guy:

Quote:

Some safety advocates scoffed at the comparison to heads-up displays in commercial jets, which are primarily used during landings — by experienced pilots. As Jeff Larason, president of the Safe Roads Alliance, a distracted-driving advocacy group, said, “What a pilot does, with ongoing training, demands a very different experience requirement than what Aunt Judy has driving on the Beltway.”

I feel the same way about the video screen in the Tesla S. Overkill distraction. See the pic below. Kwaaazy!

 

[allisondbl]

Not sure drivers "play" with a HUD anymore than they play with the speedometer.

The article reinforces what is common sense - the display should show critical items that aid in the drivers ability to drive safely - text messages, FB status and other distractions are just that - distractions.

Completely agree with PMCErnie above - always a thoughtful poster - but, as usual, the article's writer takes matters to the extreme to make fallacious comparisons.

The article says, "... the icon-rich displays ... showcase details on speed, directions, even cellphone notifications like text messages and Facebook alerts."

I wholly agree that there may be a concern with "icon-RICH" displays including 411 not relevant to driving such as a FB popup, but OUR HUD which is possibly the MOST wonderful thing on our cars helps me drive EVERY MINUTE OF THE DRIVE. As someone with early onset cataracts - yes, I'm fine to drive - night-driving is well helped by our tech particularly the HUD which ensures I'm not blinded by constantly looking down or sideways at a NAV shining light into my eyes and causing distracting and dangerous halos.

"Displays that sprinkle full-color warning signs and animated blips ..."

No full-color and no animation here, right?!

"[W]hen Hyundai’s 2015 Genesis scans nearby cars and calculates the likelihood of an upcoming crash, the car’s display will project multicolored warning symbols across the windshield as alerts."

We have only FOUR colors and uh YEAH I think an alert that WARNS US OF AN IMPENDING CRASH RIGHT IN OUR FIELD OF VISION might be a GOOD thing, no?

As to the charming closing line, "Some safety advocates scoffed at the comparison to heads-up displays in commercial jets ... “What a pilot does, with ongoing training, demands a very different experience requirement than what Aunt Judy has driving on the Beltway ...” Isn't it amazing in this day and age that some writers - inevitably in putative possession of a p*n*s - STILL feel the need to prove the inability of drivers to handle technological advancement by a charmingly placed invidious reference to "women drivers."

Sigh. ONE day we'll grow up .... apparently just not as fast as our tech does!

 

[Nikgen]

Not sure drivers "play" with a HUD anymore than they play with the speedometer.

The article reinforces what is common sense - the display should show critical items that aid in the drivers ability to drive safely - text messages, FB status and other distractions are just that - distractions. Items that would require a driver to look down (as in checking speed, nav turns, etc.) may be better placed in the general field of vision which comprises attention less.

Agreed - the article was clearly written by someone who has never lived with a car with a good HUD. The Genesis HUD is great and is less distracting than scanning my instrument panel where I really need to take my eyes completely off the road. With the Genesis HUD, a very slight glance down tells you what you need to know - and blind spot warning icons are visible in your peripheral vision of the HUD so you don't even have to look down or refocus to see it and react.

This line in particular kills me:

"And when Hyundai’s 2015 Genesis scans nearby cars and calculates the likelihood of an upcoming crash, the car’s display will project multicolored warning symbols across the windshield as alerts."

My Genesis doesn't project anything "across the windshield" - it displays in a small non-intrusive area just slightly below your primary field of vision. It's in no way a distraction.

I think the pictured HUD in article and some of what they talked about could very well be too much info projected on far too big of an area to not be distracting - esp when you start projecting texts and FB notifications - but the current Genesis HUD is none of those and a great safety feature!

 

[Ernie3647]

Agreed - the article was clearly written by someone who has never lived with a car with a good HUD. The Genesis HUD is great and is less distracting than scanning my instrument panel where I really need to take my eyes completely off the road. With the Genesis HUD, a very slight glance down tells you what you need to know - and blind spot warning icons are visible in your peripheral vision of the HUD so you don't even have to look down or refocus to see it and react.

This line in particular kills me:

"And when Hyundai’s 2015 Genesis scans nearby cars and calculates the likelihood of an upcoming crash, the car’s display will project multicolored warning symbols across the windshield as alerts."

My Genesis doesn't project anything "across the windshield" - it displays in a small non-intrusive area just slightly below your primary field of vision. It's in no way a distraction.

I think the pictured HUD in article and some of what they talked about could very well be too much info projected on far too big of an area to not be distracting - esp when you start projecting texts and FB notifications - but the current Genesis HUD is none of those and a great safety feature!

Yeah !