taken from the E60 board...

http://www.autocarmagazine.co.uk/News_Arti...sp?NA_ID=204184

 

Well what can you say?
NHTSA and DOT keep grasping for straws...
Those agencys are known for some somewhat strange regulations.
Turnsignal/reflectors can?t be white, airbags have to be able to handle people that doesn?t use the seatbelts (even though the law requiers the usage of seatbelts).
Multifunctional controlls might distract some drivers under some conditions but thats also the case with radio and music listing reading maps or newspapers (yes somepeople try doing this while driving ) not to mention mothers talking care of children while driving.
Also using a cellphones regardless of handsfree has been proved to distract the driver. Maybe all of this should also be banned?
In fact why don?t we ban talking to passengers and maybe even thinking of other things than the driving itself while driving should be prohibited.

 

if so, why has the 7 idrive not been banned so far ?...been around much longer.

 

maybe because more and more cars are having these kind of controls now, like the new 5, Audi A8 (and more in the future, I've read the new MB S-Class will have it too ...) . Anyway, I agree wit Beemer, in this case everything that can potentially distract a driver should be banned, what about smoking?