buzzers | DashboardSymbols.com

Driver Overload

We had the opportunity recently to browse through the owner’s manual of a high-end European SUV. As is our duty, we scanned the segment listing the various warning lights and indicators that may reside on the car’s instrument panel. We were frankly floored.

For many years an Asian model SUV held the record (as recorded only by us) for the most lights available on an instrument panel at 43. This includes everything from the turn signals to axle locks.

100 Symbols??

With our latest model entry, we stopped counting at 100. One hundred!

If this were a joke no one would believe it. This number includes the fact that multiple indicators can appear in multiple colors and combinations depending on circumstance. That said, the weight of information to be distilled at any given time by a driver is simply beyond comprehension. Should he or she be driving or staring at the latest change?

The majority of the indicators are associated with the growing list of available driver assist systems – truly ironic titling under the circumstances. The need for assistance feeds on itself.

Roll Away Without Warning!

We then came across an exchange between an editor from the St. Lawrence News and a reader discussing a roll away issue in a newer model push button start car. That story itself is worth a click over.

The reader wonders why there isn’t a warning indicator or buzzer to note that his vehicle was not in park when he walked away with the car shut off. In the end, editor Brian Turner notes “But in the big picture how reliant are we becoming on warning systems for basic vehicle operations? It’s almost approaching the ‘caution-hot’ labels on disposable coffee cups. There is concern among industry analysts and observers that we may be approaching warning-chime overload with all the things in our vehicles that go ding. The fears are that this will lead to drivers ignoring certain warnings and that can’t lead to anything good.”

Count us among those who are concerned.

Seriously, the advances being made in voice technology, why couldn’t the car simply speak the words “Park is not Engaged”? We are numb to the constant buzzers and lights. Ultimately, they all sound a look alike. Some plain language is just plain needed.

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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.

Marc Favreau

The author has 25 years of automotive experience and has assembled the most extensive collection of symbols and warning lights anywhere (over 1,000!) and can help you open and start any keyless start car with a dead key fob battery. BA, St. Joseph’s College, ME: MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY

Tesla Model S Incident

We watched with a good deal of fascination the running battle between New York Times reporter John Broder and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk. Broder took to the interstate system in the northeast to test the Tesla Model S and the company’s charging stations. The resulting debacle has Tesla reeling, and while we hope and believe the end result will be a positive for the company and the buying public, we see a different problem and one that is faced daily by all car manufacturers, not just Tesla.

The reality is that new technology in nearly all new cars has drivers calling roadside assistance and service departments at alarming and increasing rates. Most drivers are more like Broder – average Joes rather than car jocks. What happened to Broder and Tesla is frankly not a new phenomenon. But because it is Tesla, the issue he faced received a great deal of attention and presents an opportunity to focus on a growing knowledge gap.

Case in point: shortly after the East Coast debacle, autoblog.com posted a video of Kelly Blue Book’s Micah Muzio – for the record, a car jock – attempting a trip from LA to Las Vegas in a Model S. On the way, he and his cameraman pulled into the Tesla Design Center to get a rundown on the car. And there we are, one minute and six seconds into the 14 minute video, and the screen shows in big bold letters “Warning! Information Overload!”

Overload Indeed

This is what an entire industry runs headlong into every day, and manages to miss! A driver getting too much information to process and remember. And in this case, the managing editor for a top automotive website!

Seriously, what chance does everyone else have???

It really is time to pause and think about this.

In the back and forth that erupted on Twitter, Rebecca Greenfield of the Atlantic Wire posted “If a New York Times reporter, with an entire squadron of Tesla employees at his disposal, can’t use a Model S electric car properly, as Tesla founder and C.E.O. Elon Musk strongly asserted in a tweet this afternoon, it doesn’t say much about the usability of Tesla’s cars for regular people.”

And while she is right, our assessments from the trenches suggest that new car dealer service departments handle nearly 30 million calls a year related to electronics issues in gas and hybrid powered vehicles (17,000 new car dealers in the U.S. and Canada averaging a half dozen calls per day). And a whole lot of those drivers are also in vehicles that won’t move, or that they are afraid to move.

These are not electric cars, but they offer a good deal of new technology unfamiliar to the driving public. Drivers need and want a car they can get into, start and drive. They have full lives and more than enough to deal with without their car companies expecting them to learn every detail about their rides.

This is not just about usability. It is also about how a vehicle communicates its status and needs to its driver. Lights, chimes, buzzers and text have been rendered useless.

The laser focus placed on the Tesla Motors incident is an opportunity to shine a light on and re-think this entire process and come up with something as new as the electric car itself. We firmly believe that Tesla will make the improvements needed in its cars. We hope that the same will be true of its car-to-driver interface, and that of every other manufacturer.