Driver distraction: Lessons from the world of Formula 1

Formula 1 - as the pinnacle of Motorsport - showcases driving in arguably its most intensive form. You don't get a driving experience that is faster, more precise, more demanding. A lap in an F1 car makes the stressful school run look like a 50p ride in a Postman Pat van outside the local post office.

Just as F1 is the driving force behind many developments that end up in mainstream cars, I believe this concentrated form of driving can teach us a lot about driver distraction.  In particular, Controls and Feedback.

Given that nearly every new car launched these days comes fitted with a large touchscreen housing everything from car setup controls to climate control to audio to satellite navigation...why don't we see touchscreens in F1 cars?

It sounds like an absurd question, but it reveals a lot.

The answer is simple. Any distraction to an F1 driver will hinder performance. And the most direct means to alter a setting on a car that is doing 200mph, is through a button, switch or dial that offers precision, clarity and feedback (and therefore minimal distraction) when operated.






Any engineer that asks an F1 driver to navigate menus or tap or slide a finger across a smooth surface to effect a precise change to their vehicle at speed, would be laughed at and fired.

Shift the scenario from the racetrack to public roads and whilst speeds are lowered significantly, pedestrians and other road users are added into the mix.  Why should touch screens be any more suitable to this more conventional scenario?

In Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix, Jenson button told his race engineer over the radio, ""Dave will you stop talking to me in braking zones. Stop talking to me in braking zones."  He was quite upset. Why? Because speech interaction is distracting. The levels of concentration required to feed an F1 car around a race track expose the impact distractions can have on driving performance.

And if Jenson gets distracted, you can bet almost every driver on our roads gets distracted too. Especially if there's a glossy, internet-connected iPad blinking away and tempting you from the centre console.

So do I see a place for touch screens and voice controls in cars? Yes I do. But not in the way they are currently being developed. Motorsport pushes the boundaries of automotive development. We would do well to learn some lessons from that world about what helps and what hinders a driver's performance.

What's causing the Tesla fires?

With Tesla owners having reported 3 fires in 2 months, all the talk has been about the hazardous nature of driving around on a ton of electricity. However, I'm starting to think there might be more to these stories.

Tesla has been quick to point out that all 3 fires were a result of an accident. That's fair. Accidents happen and it's important to separate accidents from scaremongering talk of spontaneous combustion.

All three accidents involved the cars being driven over a hard object at speed, which in turn pierced the battery casing and started a fire. I'm curious to understand why Tesla owners are driving into things. Is it purely bad luck, or is it something more?

I have a theory.  It's completely speculative, but it is possible, nonetheless.  I wonder if these accidents may not have been entirely down to bad luck.  I wonder if they could have been worsened - perhaps even caused - by driver distraction. 

Could driver distraction be playing a role?

Never before has a driver been able to do so much behind the wheel of a car - over and above the primary task of driving! Never before have so many familiar, tactile controls been replaced with a cold smooth interface. Operating a Tesla Model S is unlike operating any other car.  And as brilliant as the technology is, it could be a lot more user-friendly.

Many of the car's functions - both simple and advanced - now require a visual check and a particular dexterity that was not needed in the chunky world of dials and buttons. In short, the interior of the Tesla Model S - as phenomenal as it may be - is potentially unsafe.

Lastly, we shouldn't underestimate the temptation presented by all that considerable computing power poised an arm's reach away. I'm tempted to use my iPhone all the time: when stopped at traffic, whilst waiting for a meeting, even during a meeting. It's not surprising that similar technology - super-sized and transplanted into a car - will sit there begging to be used, providing significant temptation, and inevitably distraction.

So are we perhaps missing something crucial with these fires? Rather than jumping to conclusions about the technology that propels these pioneering vehicles, perhaps we need to consider another possibility:

That indirectly, Teslas are catching fire because of a dangerous user experience.