Bring back buttons, says vehicle safety’s Euro NCAP
Are you annoyed by having to navigate through a digital menu just to change your car’s radio volume or air conditioning temperature?
The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) has announced that, from 2026, it will award five-star ratings only to cars that retain physical controls for key features.
The decision means motor companies wanting to score maximum points in crash testing will not be able to rely exclusively on touchscreens. Initially the physical controls will be required for five key functions: operating the turn signals, hazard lights, windshield wipers, emergency calls and the car’s hooter.
It will come as good news to motorists who have had to get used to ever more car features being controlled by touchscreen interfaces. Many functions that were previously selected with a quick-access physical button are now buried in digital menus, forcing drivers to look away from the road to scroll through tablet-like screens.
It has led to a backlash from motorists and motoring journalists, which critics say is about boomers crying over technology. But tactile feel for controls has important road safety benefits, which the Euro NCAP, as the leading body for crash safety in Europe, has now acknowledged.
According to Matthew Avery, the director of strategic development at Euro NCAP, the reliance on touchscreens mean drivers are obliged to take their eyes off the road at critical moments.
“The overuse of touchscreens is an industry-wide problem, with almost every vehicle-maker moving key controls onto central touchscreens, obliging drivers to take their eyes off the road and raising the risk of distraction crashes,” he told The Times.
Euro NCAP testing is voluntary, but most major carmakers in Europe use its crash testing to highlight the safety of their vehicles.
Despite complaints about the distracting nature of such features, manufacturers have pushed touchscreen interfaces because they are cheaper to produce than physical buttons. The Volvo EX30 launched in SA earlier in March has no buttons on the dashboard or an instrument panel in front of the driver. All functions are bundled into a 12.3-inch central touchscreen. The only physical controls are switches for the windows and central locking on the centre armrest, while the audio volume and a few menu functions can be controlled by buttons on the steering wheel.
Some brands have started bringing back physical controls after receiving negative feedback from customers, including Volkswagen, which has been criticised for an overreliance on touch controls on vehicles such as the Golf.
MANUFACTURERS HAVE PUSHED TOUCHSCREEN INTERFACES BECAUSE THEY ARE CHEAPER TO PRODUCE THAN PHYSICAL BUTTONS