Honda Bluetooth Pairing Issue

How Honda Can Better The Bluetooth UX

Safety is important. We get it! And the CRV, like all other Hondas, is definitely a safe car with great features like Blind Spot Monitor, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keep Assist, backup motion sensing, and the list goes on!

Sometimes the car can be a little too safe when it comes to entertainment.

The U/X Idea

Allow passengers to pair their bluetooth while the car is in motion.

The User Experience Problem

When the car is in motion, no one can pair their phone to the car’s bluetooth if it’s a new connection. It’s not uncommon for a friend a.k.a. Passenger a.k.a. Co-pilot to hop into the front seat and want to DJ. If they have not paired their phone before to the vehicle, they can only pair their device when the vehicle is not in motion.

Then the driver has to wait for a red light or pull over in order to satisfy this request. Normally in this situation both people are grumbling and attempting to figure out the rationale behind this safety feature. Is this for legal reasons? If it is for legal reasons, there is a workaround there.

We 100% agree that phones do not have to be paired while the car is in motion if there is a driver with no passenger. BUT if there’s a passenger, why can’t they pair their phone and operate other controls for the driver while the car is in motion? The car already senses if there is a passenger as noted by turning their airbags on and off based on the amount of pressure on the car seat.

The U/X Solution

If the vehicle senses there is a passenger, allow the passenger to pair a phone to bluetooth while the vehicle is in motion.

If the vehicle senses there is NO passenger, continue blocking the pairing of bluetooth while the vehicle is in motion.

If there is a safety concern, have a screen pop-up that asks if it is a passenger attempting to pair the phone. A response yes allows them to pair and a response no produces the response that phones cannot be paired while the vehicle is in motion. Track this response to Honda’s EDR (Event Data Recorder). Then if there is an accident, a response will be monitored. In the event there was no passenger and the driver selected yes, then Honda will legally be off the hook since the driver lied. This scenario helps in case the driver placed a heavy object on the passenger seat which could make the vehicle think there is a passenger when only the driver is actually present.

Conclusion

By sensing for a passenger and asking if it’s the passenger attempting to pair their phone to bluetooth, Honda continues to protect passengers and Honda while allowing for a better user experience. We’d love to hear your thoughts!

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