- 'Attention Sharing' emerging as a major driver distraction.
- AutoSense survey shows nearly half of drivers prefer buttons.
- Only 6% prefer a touchscreen interface.
According to a new survey by fleet management and training specialist AutoSense, over 90% of Kiwi drivers reckon the current fashion for vehicle touchscreens adds to driver distraction.
The poll found 93% had experienced touchscreen distraction, with almost one in four (22.9%) saying it happened frequently and close to half (48.5%) occasionally.
Nearly half (49%) said physical knobs and buttons were easiest to use, compared with just 6% who chose touchscreens. A further one in five preferred a mix of both.
The poll of 476 New Zealanders (367 had a vehicle with touchscreen) also found 61% identified at least one screen, device or vehicle interface as something that commonly pulls their attention from the road, including navigation, work alerts and hands-free calls.
AutoSense CEO Charles Dawson says the findings expose a growing tension in modern vehicle design: screens put more functions at drivers’ fingertips, but can also demand more of their eyes.
“A knob or button gives you tactile feedback. Once you know where it is, you can often make an adjustment without taking your eyes off the road,” says Dawson.
“With a touchscreen, you may need to find the right menu, see where your finger is landing and check the vehicle has responded. None of those glances may feel particularly dangerous on its own, but they add up.”
International vehicle safety standards are recognising the hazards. Euro NCAP’s 2026 protocols assess the placement, clarity and ease of use of essential vehicle controls, including whether physical buttons are provided for commonly used functions.
Dawson says the problem extends beyond private motorists. Commercial drivers can also be juggling navigation, dispatch systems, work tablets and incoming job alerts.
“Distraction doesn’t always look like somebody scrolling on their phone. It can be repeated, very short glances between the road and a screen, navigation prompt or work alert.
“The driver may never look away long enough to recognise it as a major distraction, but their attention is still being divided. It comes back to attention on task – or off task. If it is diverted elsewhere in the cabin, it is not fully on driving. There is no such thing as a ‘good’ distraction.”
Known as "Attention Sharing", this pattern of repeated short glances away from the road can be difficult to recognise.
Many new-vehicle drive distraction cameras are capable of tracking eye movements rather than just head-position.
A new fleet/commercial aftermarket product called Guardian Generation 3, developed by Seeing Machines, uses camera-based gaze tracking to identify where a driver is looking. It sounds an in-cab alert when a driver looks away from the road for a cumulative 10 seconds within a rolling 30-second period.
Dawson says accuracy matters because drivers can quickly lose faith in warnings that don’t reflect what is actually happening.
“Technology can improve safety, but only when it is designed around how people actually drive. Whether it’s the controls built into a car or the systems an employer asks a driver to use, keeping eyes on the road has to come first.”