Safest car “entertainment system” for teen driver

[Anonymous]

We don’t let our teen with her license drive with her phone on (the first thing she does upon getting in car is shut it down and put it face down on passenger seat) nor the radio on. We said when she hits the 6 month mark of having her license, she can start to play music when she drives.

We are buying a second car soon which will be the one she primarily uses. We are looking at new or used Honda civics, among a few other similar cars. I haven’t bought a car in over 10 years and it seems that now it is standard that the cars have Apple car play and a touch screen entertainment system for phone connection, gps, etc.

She wants to connect her phone via Apple car play and listen to her own music. I am concerned that with such a touchscreen and Apple car play, it will be tempting to keep touching the screen while driving to change songs, and also will her texts start to come through on the screen, too?

Is it safer to get a car with a non-touch screen entertainment system? That is what my car has and so I can’t fiddle with it unless I am in park. Also, is Apple car play too distracting for teens? I really would like to let her listen to her own music, of course. But don’t want her to start glancing at the screen while driving if texts are coming through.

Thanks for updating me on how these things work. The salesperson at the car dealership touted the touch screen and Apple car play as good features to have, but didn’t have answers to my teen safety questions .

[Anonymous]

My car has a touch screen and I like it -- I can give voice commands, so I don't have to do much touching (I have an Android, but I assume there isn't much difference between what AutoPlay and Car Play do)

[Anonymous]

I find the carplay helps me keep eyes on the road. If I am driving and want to switch songs, there is a button I press on the steering wheel and then verbally command “play playlist XYX” and it starts the music. Way less distracting than trying to switch songs on my phone.

[Anonymous]

I have a Subaru, which I love, but man, their infotainment screen sucks. Very distracting & hard to make selections while driving. You are smart to be thinking of this!

[Anonymous]

On my 2018 Honda, not only does the screen have buttons but the center of the wheel has radio controls that you can more easily toggle with your thumb while driving than glancing at the touch screen while driving.

I say just get her the entertainment system that comes with the car. I agree w pp, it’s more of a distraction to have to control it through your phone.

[Anonymous]

This a little tangential to your question but Ford has a feature called mykey that allows you to set limits on volume, speed, limits access to the radio if you don’t buckle up, etc. it was designed for parents for their teen drivers.