Re: Automation
"Dials (and knobs, switches and buttons) are easy compared to the multi-function touch displays much liked these days. I suggest if you are finding them difficult you may wish to assess whether you are actually fit to drive.'
I agree with your disdain for touchscreens as an in car interface.
However the closest I have ever come to another vehicle on the road was twenty year ago when I glanced down to grab the heater control. Massive great dial, so took no more than .1-.2 seconds to glance, but in that moment the vehicle in front started an emergency stop. I stopped with about 6" to spare, and was then overtaken by a small blue cloud that used to be part of my rear tyres.
My comment that driving was difficult wasn't that I found it particularly so - but that in general operating lethal machinery in public is difficult. The levels of concentration required to do it properly are much, much higher than most motorists manage. Reducing that level slightly, and reducing the time your eyes are away from the road at all, is a good thing.
Since I became disabled I have an additional cognitive load to deal with, and the aids are therefore even more important to me, previously they were useful gimmicks (i.e. I could do without them, but they were still an aid), now they are significantly important.
As a completely non driver aid example:
Keyless entry for a car. I had it, thought is was a fun gimmick, used it anyway. Replaced car, didn't have it any more. No big deal.
Then became disabled.
So now I come out of the supermarket, have to fish around in the bag for the key, open the boot, put the key back in the bag, put shopping and wheelchair in the boot, stagger round the car, fish the key out again, unlock the driver's door, put key back, get in, get key out for a third time, put key in ignition.
Because every action requires both hands, I can't just keep the key out - and suddenly keyless entry is no longer a gimmick but a major feature.