Who is really in control?

As cars become more complex, driver-control systems proliferate-but keeping their operation simple and reducing workload is a growing fight.

The battle of automotive ergonomics against the inexorable advance of technologies for driver support and safety systems has been raging for years, but there is still no sign of victory. When common sense and simplified design are successfully applied to the operation of secondary controls, new technology reinforcements invariably arrive to carry out a neat flanking movement-and attrition sets in once more. So while advanced systems are introduced, many apparently giving driver support, the risk is that dashboard clutter increases and driver workload rises, demanding more eyes-in-cockpit attention, with the question begged: “Can the driver be fully in control at all times?”

Long before dashboards became the domain of large screens and banks of buttons, and when fresh air entered cabins via opened windows, ergonomics were a simple matter of positioning choke, starter button, lights switch, heater controls, and basic instruments within reach and sight of the driver.