Category: Articles & Commentaries

Discussions on topics of interest to drivers concerning things they may not understand about their vehicles as well as articles on the future of the auto industry.

Least Distracting Typefaces – Is This the Plan?

Least Distracting Typefaces

In late September, 2012, an item reported by Automotive News stated that a group at MIT (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) was doing a study on typefaces that would mitigate driver distraction. That is, typefaces that would be the least distracting.

Sure enough, a bit of additional exploration turned up work at the MIT Age Lab conducted along with the New England University Transportation Center and Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc. The exploratory study wanted to see if “certain type styles can reduce glance time — the time away from watching the road when driving while interacting with in-vehicle displays.” (see the press release here)

So, in a period of time when State legislatures are banning text messaging using cell phones because of the dangers, private companies – with a clear vested interest – and universities are studying how to reduce the time it takes to read text produced by in-car displays!

Is this really the best we can come up with? Has common sense left the building permanently alongside Elvis?

The press release linked above actually cites National Highway Transportation Safety Administration statistics stating that 26,000 crashes reported to police in 2010 “involved adjusting a device/control integral to the vehicle” and that “glances longer than two seconds are correlated with an increased crash/near-crash risk.”

Is There a Better Way?

While the intent of the research is laudable, wouldn’t it make more sense to remove text altogether? If a GPS system can give audible turn by turn directions, can’t text be shifted to spoken word? Glance time would drop to zero and maybe 26,000 crashes would be eliminated, not simply reduced.

Seriously, lets teach cars how to talk about itself, not just where the nearest pizza shop is.

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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the  use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.

These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.

Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2012/11/least-distracting-typefaces-is-this-the-plan/

New Car Problem? Your Dealer Wants the Call, No Matter Whose Frustration

A New Car Problem

It is an odd conundrum. Car dealers desperately wish that all drivers understood everything about their cars. And yet, given the alternative, the same dealers wants drivers to call them for answers whenever questions come up.

Any call is an opportunity to sell service, even warranty service, and the associated relationship and even dependency this builds between driver and dealer. However, there is an unrecognized danger here that has been experienced in the industry before. Customer fatigue.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Toyota correctly read into the frustrations of high-line automobile customers, principally those of Mercedes and BMW. Their vehicles, test beds for the latest and greatest features, tended to spend an inordinate amount in service bays. The end result was an entirely new line of vehicles that snared a lion’s share of the luxury car market by naming reliability, and thus customer convenience, as its mantra.

Unfortunately, that line, Lexus, while having raised service standards, now subscribes to those old mantras.

What is developing today, while different in scope, draws a close parallel to the events that resulted in the creation of the Lexus brand, not to mention Infiniti and Acura. The latest advanced features, while generally quite reliable, are not immune to requiring service. And many of these feature require a new level of driver participation. Navigation systems and Bluetooth connection requirements for example.

The problems experienced by drivers with the MyFord Touch system, while extreme, will hopefully serve to open some eyes in the industry. Turning the car into a rolling computer requires a level of knowledge that many, if not most, drivers do not have the time or patience to attain, and that may be simply out of reach for some.

So manufacturers struggle with wanting their customers dependent upon them, and simultaneously with educating those same drivers on the latest features. All too many drivers are frustrated, angry and at times even afraid of their vehicles. The landscape is ripe for a manufacturer who can find a new path to building cars that manage to include the latest and greatest while making their drivers a seamlessly connected part of the system.

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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the  use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.

These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.

Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2012/09/new-car-problem-your-dealer-wants-the-call-no-matter-whose-frustration/

Dazed and Confused: Automakers’ Education Dilemma

Automakers’ Education Dilemma

Drivers and automotive service personnel are often very different animals. But they share one trait. New technologies have them all dazed and confused: drivers trying to understand those technologies and service personnel saddled with trying to explain them, and getting those explanations to stick.

Despite years of failure, car companies continue to believe that education is the way to go. Over the last 12 months, Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, and Lexus have all set or reset education initiatives. Just like those that have come and gone, these new initiatives will likely fail, leaving all involved still dazed and confused.

The question must finally be asked. What do car companies know about education? Given the continued difficulties they face when introducing new features to consumers, the answer would have to be very, very little. The reality is they know nothing about education, just as educators know nothing of building cars!

Please do not misunderstand. We will not advocate for the improvement of consumer education. If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, then the automobile industry is already suffering from a collective insanity.

So why does education fail? We can think of two major failings. First, we have seen salesmen and service personnel alike make the same fundamental mistake and whether or not you have recently purchased a new car, you have likely experienced it too. It’s the ‘watch this’ problem. All of us have had someone sit down at a computer to ‘show us’ how to do something. We watch the results on the screen while someone else’s fingers manipulate the keyboard and mouse. In the end, we are left with absolutely no idea what was done to get to the result.

Still, that’s not the real reason education doesn’t work. The question is, how do any of us actually learn? Think of what you remember from school. Any school. Not easy is it?

So, the second reason is that in fact, we learn by doing. And repeating. Over and over. So, a driver will learn how to connect a new cell phone to his infotainment system by connecting at least three of them. Hopefully in rapid succession. A driver will finally understand what to do when the tire pressure warning light comes on the fourth time she has to deal with it.

Unfortunately, all that information can and will be lost with the passage of time. And time will pass between the sightings of a trouble light or the need to connect a new phone.

So, what is a car company to do? How about an infotainment system that does a show and tell on connecting a new phone. The instructions are out there and accessible to a connected infotainment system. And yes, we said ‘tell’: verbal instructions as well as on-screen visuals. How about connecting that voice to the instrument panel to that same infotainment system and having it give at least a rudimentary explanation for that warning light that just came on? Either could easily include an option to call the nearest dealer or roadside assistance for help.

Now those would be steps in the right direction, unless the car companies are not actually tired of frustrated drivers and service personnel.

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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the  use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.

These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.

Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2012/08/dazed-and-confused-automakers-education-dilemma/

Automotive Warning Lights: Scrap the Useless System

Is There Any Value in Current Dashboard Symbols?

Recent discussions in the automotive press (since deleted) have railed on the uselessness of the check engine light or called for an outright ban of the light and other automotive warning lights.

And they’re on to something. Lets face it. Scrap the useless system. The current and growing crop of automotive warning lights, including the check engine light, without the associated fault code or codes says nothing, to the driver in particular. However, in point of fact, the entire warning and indicator light system suffers from the very same problem:

  • What is an oil light without an oil gauge?
  • What is a charging system light without a volt or amp meter?
  • What is an ABS light without a fault code?
  • What are any of the hundreds of other lights without more information?

What Should We Do Instead?

Of course, fault codes, gauges and meters are only of use to those with the ability to interpret them, which is the source of the ‘idiot light’ system in the first place. But the plain fact is that today’s vehicles have the capability to display not only an indicator light and fault code, but also an explanation of what is actually wrong in plain language AND what needs to be done at that moment:

  • Can the car be driven under the condition?
  • Does the car need to be towed?
  • Is there a REAL danger of loss of control?
  • Etc., etc., etc.

Unfortunately, it is not likely that any manufacturer will step up and risk giving more detailed information to lay people out of liability fears. But the system as it exists now runs the real risk of needlessly frightening drivers with the circus of indicator and warning lights that can pop up at the drop of a gas cap. And sometimes two and three lights at a time.

Further, with 20, 30 and even more indicators on instrument panels today, is there not a risk of saturation? The 2017 Audi Q7 has over 100 lights or combinations of lights that may be shown!

When is enough enough? Every new system added to a vehicle is met with a new indicator and or acronym that, despite the best industry efforts, remain a mystery to the average driver. Seriously, most drivers need to get the kids to school and get themselves to their jobs. They are not car people and simply have too much on their plate as it is.

Even experienced service personnel have to search their memory banks to correctly identify the meaning of some of the more obscure acronyms (AFS does NOT start with ‘Automatic’… ). Should the industry expect more from drivers?

Seriously, before someone freaks out behind the wheel let’s stop throwing new lights at every new vehicle add-on and consider some alternatives. At the very least, new and existing lights should be accompanied by real and useful information.

And since drivers should NOT be reading while driving, how about having the vehicle talk to the driver by voice? With all the discussion surrounding driver distraction and the integration of Siri and other voice command systems into infotainment systems, we are not so far from this ‘Eyes Free’ solution. It’s just a little to the left, in the instrument panel…

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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the  use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.

These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.

Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2012/07/automotive-warning-lights-scrap-a-useless-system/

All Too Common Keyless Ignition Headaches

Keyless Ignition Headaches

The development of hybrid vehicles all but required a change in the way a car is started. A hybrid deems itself “Ready” (or not) with the ignition on, and the gasoline engine is started with a press of the gas pedal. Thus were born keyless ignition, or push button start, systems. Well what are perceived as the coolest gadgets ultimately will always find their way into everything eventually, and these systems are no exception. But what looks and feels cool comes at a price.

Which is a dead key fob, or remote control, battery. Most of us have used keyless entry for years, unlocking our cars with the touch of a button. But in order to start the vehicle without a key, the remote control must send out and/or receive a radio signal continuously, or nearly so. As a result, the life expectancy of the battery in the key fob can be as little as 12 months. Thousands upon thousands of drivers are caught unprepared by this in their busy, busy lives every year.

The industry sees this as little more than a trifle, despite the number of calls that come in to service departments and roadside assistance centers every day. They wash their hands of the problem noting that the vehicle does, in fact, notify drivers when the key fob battery is weakening, and that there is a back up plan for getting in and getting moving even when the fob battery has died.

Why It’s Still a Problem

However:
– The back-up instructions are treated as an afterthought in owner’s manuals, buried inside what are today 500+ page tomes.
– And the manual is necessary because, there are no standard means for starting the vehicle when this happens. Not between manufacturers and sometimes not within product lines!
– There is also no standard means for retrieving a hard key to get into the vehicle from manufacturer to manufacturer.
– And for five vehicle manufacturers, there is no visible keyhole in the driver’s door for that hard key!

The disrespect for drivers is appalling. You can well bet that the designers of those hidden keyholes have NEVER talked a panicked driver through the process of prying off a piece of a $50,000 vehicle in order to find key cylinder on a cold winter night in a dark parking lot. A very, very vulnerable position that you do not want to be in, or have a loved one in. And this so that a single square inch of the vehicle can be more attractive!

And once inside, two manufacturers have six different methods for starting the vehicle, and another has four. Most have at least two starting methods. A driver will be lucky indeed to get someone on the phone at a dealership – assuming they are open – who knows how to start a particular model.

There are many good reasons for keyless start systems: theft deterrence, convenience, even pain relief for some. But let’s standardize the back-up plans and give drivers a break! Yes, satellite services can open and start a car – if the service is available and paid for. It is no excuse for the schizophrenic approach now employed by the industry.

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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the  use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.

These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.

Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2012/06/the-trouble-with-trifles-keyless-ignition-headaches/

Distracted Driving from Outside the Lines

DOT Guidelines

The recent U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) release of its guidelines on the topic of distracted driving has spurred a good deal of discussion in the media. The guidelines call for automakers to disable applications in the vehicles center stack or infotainment system that allow drivers to manually access social media, surf the Web or send text messages while on the road.

All well and good. Very, very good in fact. Really, do we want drivers web surfing or reading text messages while driving?

More Distractions

JVC head unitBut all of the attention is on infotainment systems. At DashboardSymbols.com, we see this focus on distracted driving as an opportunity to reexamine how vehicles communicate with drivers in general. Today’s advanced vehicles are in one form or another continually talking to drivers, either with warning lights and tell-tales or through short and often difficult to interpret text messages. This growing phenomenon is being completely ignored by the DOT and manufacturers alike, and yet poses a similar if not more serious distraction threat.

Warning lights and indicators have long been the province of a vehicle’s instrument panel and the preferred means of communication between the vehicle and its driver. An entire collection of automotive hieroglyphics has been developed and continues to be developed.

Now, vehicles with multifunction displays offer multiple screens to peer at while driving: text on navigation information, tire pressures, fuel consumption, telephone use, and more may be available. And each segment likely offers additional information through menu manipulation. These items are generally very easily accessed with controls mounted on the steering wheel, but the information displayed ultimately requires the driver’s eyes to absorb.

Stability control indicatorWarning symbols and indicators can already be problematic. Unless a driver has dealt with a malfunction in a given system in the past, the appearance of what will be an unfamiliar warning light can cause near panic. And with each new system comes a new tell-tale. The average driver simply does not have the time in a busy life to memorize all the various scenarios these indicators present. Thus when a new one appears, the question for the driver becomes ‘is my car safe to drive?’ That answer is rarely obvious and invariably leads to calls to roadside services or service departments.

And now, message screens are being employed to add instruction, explanation or general information on a vehicle’s status. The idea is sound, but the implementation lies squarely at the center of the DOT’s current concern.

Our perspective is that the driver distraction debate is an opportunity to step back and reconsider the entire landscape. Vehicles are in constant communication with their drivers, and are becoming communication hubs, bringing information and entertainment from without.

Voice commands are in play and offer a path to follow. Perhaps it is time for vehicles themselves to be given a voice. And not just for reading text messages aloud. In theory, it could speak aloud the meaning of a given tell-tale so a lay person can understand, or the status of tires pressures on request, and so on. Certainly there are challenges in implementation – variations in definitions, requests to repeat or no longer repeat information, etc – but it is time to consider allowing a vehicle to communicate its status through 2-way voice interaction. The iPhone’s Siri points the way.

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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the  use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.

These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.

Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2012/04/distracted-driving-from-outside-the-lines/

Automotive Warning Lights: Multiple Light Syndrome

Multiple Light Syndrome

This has been a difficult topic to write about. My goal is always to explain an automotive issue so that an average driver can follow along and understand. But I have been over and over and over this article, and I’m still not sure if I’m conveying the message properly. We devoted an entire page to the issue, linked here, and have struggled to present the information logically. That difficulty truly speaks to the direction the industry is taking.

A new phenomenon has developed over the last several years. You are driving down the road, the vehicle feels normal and seems to be running properly. And then, not one or two but as many as three warning or indicator lights suddenly flare up on your instrument panel. Now what?? It is a very difficult topic to explain verbally – and even more difficult in writing! See our full layout here.

The original concept of warning and indicator lights, tell-tales, idiot lights or whatever you care to call them, was to put the driver’s attention on a potentially serious problem. And while that remain true, the very fact is that, in today’s advanced automobiles, some systems depend on the proper operation of several others. Thus, a fault in one system will result in the shut down of others that depend on the first.

Thus an instrument panel will show a multitude of illuminated tell-tales, the secondary ones effectively telling a driver only that these systems are shut off. A bad case of Multiple Light Syndrome, and, for the average driver, a potentially frightening time indeed.

ABS Trouble Indicator USAdvanced stability control and traction control systems are the primary culprits, or more to the point, the electronics that they depend on. And they are the least likely to actually fail. These systems rely on signals from the electronics controlling the operation of the engine, transmission, anti-lock brakes (ABS), and suspension systems. A single glitch in any one of these systems effectively means that that system can no longer be trusted. So, a fault in the ABS illuminates the ABS light, the traction or stability control system light, and the skid warning light.

Tell-tales, as we noted, were originally designed to help drivers who didn’t understand how to read a gauge. Today’s advanced systems are not likely to have a gauge associated with them, so all a warning light can hope to do is get a driver’s attention. And in multiples, they are guaranteed to do just that.

The automotive industry turns a blind eye to the fact that the average driver is not a technician, and the circus of tell-tales lit up at once is, bluntly, a frightening sight. The first question is always “is my car safe to drive”? In truth, the answer is nearly always “yes”!

The Bottom Line

VDC Off IndicatorMultiple lights rarely, if ever, mean multiple system faults. A fault in the engine (Check Engine), ABS or drive train will result in its associated fault light coming on. That one fault will shut down the traction and/or stability control systems, and those “off” lights will be illuminated to tell you that they are shut down. It is perfectly safe to drive a vehicle with the advanced systems off, as they are designed to kick in only in the most extreme conditions.

Should the problem be addressed? Yes, and as soon as possible. So long as the vehicle seems to be running normally, you have time to reach your dealer for service at minimum. Just add a little more caution to your drive.

However, if the vehicle is not running properly, do not attempt to drive it. Call for roadside assistance right away!

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Remember that only proper service and repair procedures will ensure the safe and reliable operation of your car. In addition, proper safety procedures and precautions, such as the  use of safety goggles, the right tools and the equipment should be followed at all times to eliminate the possibility of personal injury or improper service which could damage the vehicle or compromise its safety.

These posts are for information sharing purposes only, and should not be used in lieu of an OEM service manual or factory authorized service procedure. We are not in the auto repair business nor do we publish automotive service manuals. Nothing we include on these pages and posts has been reviewed, approved or authorized by any vehicle manufacturer.

Technology is always changing and what is current and accurate today may be literally out-of-date and inaccurate tomorrow. And when it comes to the current state of flux in the auto industry, nothing is more true.

Permanent link to this article: https://dashboardsymbols.com/2012/02/automotive-warning-lights-multiple-light-syndrome/