Modern car interiors are becoming increasingly dominated by large screens – we tested to see how distracting these are on the move.
Read any news story or car review of a modern car and it'll doubtless talk about the size and features of its infotainment screens. Rewind 20 years or so and it was unusual to find a touchscreen in a car to control its hi-fi and heating system – now you'd be hard-pressed to find a car without one.
But a core part of driving safety is obviously keeping your eyes on the road to scan for hazards – so how distracting are modern car infotainment systems, and are they actually taking our eyes off the road for longer than they should?
That's what we set out to test in the video below, where we used eye-tracking glasses, a group of scientists from Exeter University and eight new cars to see which systems were most and least distracting.
How we tested car infotainment screens
We asked our test subject (who was unfamiliar with the cars on the test) to wear eye-tracking glasses and drive around a technical course while performing a set of tasks. These tasks included changing the radio station, changing the cabin temperature, turning on the windscreen demister and turning off the lane-keep assist. We timed each run, and the scientists crunched the data from the glasses to see which cars took our test subject's eyes off the road for the longest period.
Which cars have the most distracting infotainment screens?
The results from our experiment are below.
| Car | % of time focused on infotainment | % of time focused on driving |
| Vauxhall Mokka | 21.6 | 78.4 |
| Audi A3 | 23.6 | 76.4 |
| Volkswagen Golf Mk8 | 24.5 | 75.5 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 5 N | 26.5 | 73.5 |
| Mercedes CLA | 30.9 | 69.1 |
| Ford Puma | 38.6 | 61.4 |
| BMW iX1 | 36.1 | 63.9 |
| BMW 2 Series Coupe | 37.7 | 62.3 |
The results showed that the Vauxhall Mokka (shown below) let our test subject spend most of the time looking at the road while performing the infotainment tasks. It's a simpler system than in the rest of the cars, and this made it easy to find the info needed while driving. The Audi A3 almost ties for first place, with a simple infotainment system with big blocks of buttons that are easy to find on the move.
The Ford Puma, BMW iX1 (shown below) and BMW 2 Series have the most distracting infotainment systems. The Ford's screen required our test subject to perform long looks away from the road to get the information needed, while the BMW systems required multiple fast looks away from the road to work out which icons to press.
The BMW 2 Series required the most looks per second of any car on test – an average of 1.08 looks at the infotainment system per second during the test.
What is the most distracting thing about car interiors?
The most distracting thing in a car interior – other than a hand-held mobile phone – is undoubtedly the infotainment screen. Studies have shown that touchscreen systems are especially distracting, and drivers are increasingly required to use a touchscreen to change even simple functions, such as the temperature or radio station. Our testing shows there's a wide degree of usability between different manufacturers' touchscreen systems, with some providing logically laid-out menus, and others providing a baffling array of distracting touch buttons.
Our testing also showed that there are deeper cognitive distractions at play – when our test subject was thinking about finding the information needed on the screen, it affected his ability to drive the car. This was seen in a lag between his eyes and his physical steering inputs, and in some cases even nearly missing cones on the test route as a result of distraction.
How can I reduce distractions while driving?
From an infotainment point-of-view, we recommend familiarising yourself with the system in any new car before you take it for a drive. Learn how to change the radio station (and set it before you move off), suss-out the air-con controls and get the car set up as much as possible before you drive.
We recommend only using your infotainment system at a standstill, or use voice commands if available.
There are other ways to avoid distractions. Put your mobile phone in a centre console cubbyhole out of sight – that way you won't be distracted by it vibrating and you won't be tempted to sneak a peek at its screen. Use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto if they're available to mirror your phone's screen to your car's infotainment system.
Also avoid eating and drinking on the move, and as for distracting kids in the back of the car… try to find a way of entertaining them that doesn't require your input while you're driving.
Finally, ensure you're always hydrated and well-rested before any long journey if you can.
