I still get tempted to text message while driving the MINI but I now know better. A system like this, which is no doubt much more complicated than flipping a tape, in the hands of someone who dosent realize the potential for danger and driving a car with considerable pick up and power, is gonna cause accidents.

Bottom line – there is no need to check your email or text while behind the wheel. Driving requires a fully engaged mind, regardless if you are 18, 80, or anywhere inbetween. MINI should be focused on things like performance, handling, saftey, reliability and gas mileage more so than turning the drivers seat into a virtual office.

Give me a reason you need to check your Gmail account while cruising the interstate and I will show you the lives of the people you are sharing the road with who I am certain will all agree, your SPAM can wait till you arrive at your destination.

Actually, climate control knobs with poor placement is a distraction. On my previous vehicle they were highly placed barely requiring a glance to adjust them. However on the MINI they are much lower on the center column requiring a much longer (by comparison) time looking away from the road and down towards the buttons instead.

I don’t doubt that the kids are growing up more multitasking however from the studies I’ve seen, while the appearance of being busier and/or more productive is there, the reality is that they really are the same or even less productive than a non multitasker.

Interesting implementation, that you mention, of the adjustment lockout unless the car is in park. I was trying to get the GPS working on one of our company vehicles a few months ago and discovered that it could only be changed when the car was in park AND the parking brake was engaged. Otherwise almost all options were disabled. You would think the mobile phone manufacturers could make it so the phones don’t work when moving more than 10 mph or some other restriction but then the commuters on buses and trains and passengers in the cars would not like this. Sad but, to me, it appears to be a trade off between entertainment/money and safety.

With perception feeding it a maelstrom of realtime data, the brain’s gatekeeper decides which sensory inputs become instructions, which to pay attention to and act on, while ignoring or shutting out innumerable sensory inputs that it deems less important. This involves constant judgment, shifting of priorities and resulting actions. We hope that everyone’s gatekeeper chooses wisely.

Younger brains seem to process faster, with a sense of invincibility mediating, somewhere in the gatekeeper. Older brains seem to process more slowly, but with a more experienced gatekeeper.

Consequently, any device in a car must be limited in regard to how numerous and demanding are its distractions to the driver. (Passengers and Bluetooth earpieces may be included as distracting devices, especially during a heated exchange.)

It would be nice if invincible young people could test their multi-tasking abilities in the University of Iowa’s driving simulator. Tests there have demonstrated that drivers’ confidence far exceeds their multi-tasking abilities.

My connected Full bluetooth ’04 just transfers some info. I can tell with the bmw ulf from visteon has some features to fully connect the iphone to more applications, but it was never done, as I heard through the grapevine bmw ag hurried to get the 04′ system in.

I’m all for it. This stuff will continue to get cheaper and cheaper, better and more interesting with each iteration.

But, clearly, driver’s education and laws are going to have to keep up with the technology: more training and restrictions on when and when not to use technology in vehicles is requisite.

That Windows window is especially disturbing. Is that hiding just beyond the LCD frame in all minis? Scary.

That is just for testing. MINI’s DO NOT RUN WINDOWS.

Matt

So should we only allow voice-controlled audio systems as well and eliminate any visual/tactile interfaces in cars? What about climate controls? I’m sure there is a healthy subset of accidents caused by people “distracted” when trying to adjust a dual-zone climate control system.

Interestingly, I was driving a 996 911 recently that appeared to have a lock out on the driver’s power seat adjustments. You could not move the seat while the car was moving, only when stopped. Too extreme? I actually thought that was an excellent safety feature and think we should have more such lock outs designed into our vehicles by default. When you are driving, you’re eyes and hands are focused on driving. Period.

Tell that to my wife who’s been hit by 20 some-things who thought they had enough bandwidth to drive and check messages at the same time. Unfortunately studies show that we believe we have the bandwidth but the reality is that we simply do not. I see this system as yet another distraction for drivers.