We’ve been harping on about how touchscreens have ruined cars for years, but today, we finally feel heard. As reported by The Times, the independent – but pretty much industry-standard – vehicle safety industry body, Europe New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), is set to introduce new testing rules from January 2026, which will require physical controls to achieve the maximum five-star safety ratings in its crash tests.
Points will be deducted for newly tested cars that don’t have buttons, stalks, or dials for turn indicators, hazard lights, horn, windscreen wipers, and emergency call (a mandatory safety feature in the European Union, and one that Malaysia is too intending to mandate), and with enough points docked, so will their star rating.
Euro NCAP’s director of strategic development, Matthew Avery explains their decision: “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.
“New Euro NCAP tests due in 2026 will encourage manufacturers to use separate, physical controls for basic functions in an intuitive manner, limiting eyes-off-road time and therefore promoting safer driving.”
RELATED: Study confirms that buttons are indeed better than touchscreens in cars
Of course, Euro NCAP isn’t legally enforceable by any means, and safety testing is purely voluntary – the only way to force carmakers to bring the buttons back is via European Union themselves, like how they made Apple put USB-C ports on iPhones. But given how many brands use the five-star rating as a marketing tool, it won’t be surprising to see carmakers all fall in line and follow suit.
In fact, Avery told The Verge that many carmakers are already aware of the pending changes to Euro NCAP – which have yet to be finalised – and “are in support of the initiative”. After all, the physical button requirements really aren’t that hard to comply anyway; we think they should really think about adding climate controls into that list as well.
While many carmakers, especially EV manufacturers, are stuffing their cars with more and more screens by the day (most probably in their attempts to slash costs), it appears some are starting to react to customers’ feedback – that these “Human Machine Interfaces”, as they like to call it, just plainly suck.
Volkswagen, in a rare and unexpected move, has announced that its upcoming facelift update for the Golf Mk.8 will see the reintroduction of physical buttons on its steering wheel, stating that its “what customers want from VW”, while BMW CEO Oliver Zipse also told Automotive News Europe back in CES 2023 that he’s “absolutely convinced” that huge screens “that require you to look down to operate your car” will be outlawed in a decade or so.
Better days are coming, my friends. Next up – less of these pointless “AI” features, please.
ALSO READ: BMW, Polestar designers say big screens might be on their way out
