This is what bothers us about modern cars

10th row: Close the door or there will be an explosion

If things get stuck while manoeuvring or you just want to see where the parking line is, experienced drivers will open the driver’s door when reversing. More and more cars are responding fiercely: some rely on deafening warning tones, some even crash the machine into a “P” while you’re already rolling.

9th row: Please be quiet

GPS programmed, destination in mind, no parking in front. Around the corner, the space-seeking satellite navigation system continues to shine. It would be great if you could close it with a flick of the wrist. Every infotainment system has its own idea of ​​where to stop route guidance – but few are intuitive. Sometimes you navigate through all the sub-menus for minutes, bored.

8th row: Gloves in the compartment

Back to the future: The glove box got its name from the fact that it’s inside the driver’s gloves. Today, thanks to cockpit design, airbags and the like, we’re back where the car atlas of 20 years ago fit, today usually only gloves come into play. Sometimes it even gets too narrow for the parking disc! Then why not at all?

7th row: Disregarded

The backup camera is a great help – also because today it is often impossible to do without it. It’s our own fault: we prefer to buy SUVs with a coupé-like roofline, nicely muscled station wagons rather than practically angular rears. This makes the rear windows smaller. Soon we can give each other inner mirrors.

6th place: Overtures

High-tech cars detect their surroundings with ultrasonic, 3D cameras, radar and laser sensors. This avoids many accidents, but some models now apply the brakes when we want to park too close to a fence or wall to save space. Or just drive it into our garage. Please leave us alone while we roam around.

5th row: Beeps well

We have become accustomed to the beeping of the parking sensor, which is often too early, and the artificial sounds of electric vehicles warning pedestrians. But on more and more cars, does the beep have to start from the inside when reversing (!)? We are not trucks and we don’t go back by accident.

4th row: Automatic blinding

Good idea – theoretically: the car goes in and out by itself. In practice, it works well with expensive matrix LED light. But with “normal” auto-dimming it’s sometimes pretty good and usually very moderate. The moment the first blind person turns on their lights, the man is enraged. Hint: Switching to low beam deactivates automatic high beam.

3rd row: hold me tighter

The designers are happy that the handbrake lever is gone. But only designers. Today everything has to be electronic. The electric handbrake has advantages such as a “hold” function to prevent rolling back and is cheaper than the good old handbrake lever. But then please the same way: sometimes we have to pull the handbrake to release it, sometimes we press it, sometimes it automatically releases when we start driving.

2nd row: Find the volume

The good old rotary volume knob is breaking the touchscreen environment. So it is rationalized by designers. If you don’t want to use the buttons on the steering wheel to control things, you are now helpless: rockers, sensor strips, real buttons, virtual touchscreen buttons – none of these can replace the precise rotation of your fingers.

1st row: Grasp the steering wheel

Help systems are overly enthusiastic. Logical. But it’s annoying that lane guards open themselves again when you reboot – hence more points in crash rating. You drive the car, the electronics suddenly grip the steering wheel. The queue is still far away. Please let us decide when we need it.