Seem is doing a lot of lifting there. For one, there is no generation of iPhone that is safe to use while driving. Such that you have a ton more tolerance for a phone than you would a car system. Mostly for good reasons.
It doesn't help that iphones from that time frame aren't really in use today. Car systems are.
Also, maybe the expected lifetime of something used to turn up and down the volume and show a map while being in a fixed case and not even having its own battery is different than a device running on battery, thrown around in everyday life and literally being pressed on 0-24. And even then an iphone from the last 5 years might well be expected to run for 5 more with a battery replacement at most. Mobile hardware went over a huge change in this timeframe.
I confess I am not a frequent driver. I do frequently get mad at my phone. And my computer. Though, not as often as it seems the average hn visitor does. :)
I did not mean my post to dismiss the idea that we should expect better. I'm just worried that the practices we put up with elsewhere in software would not, necessarily, be the answer.
It doesn't help that iphones from that time frame aren't really in use today. Car systems are.