From 2026, the European New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP) will introduce new testing rules that will require vehicles to have physical controls for basic functions like turn signals and windscreen wipers to earn a full five-star safety rating.
Touchscreens inside vehicles have become commonplace. More and more basic vehicle controls have moved away from physical buttons to an icon on a touchscreen.
While using a touchscreen is easy to access and user-friendly, it does require the user to take their eyes off the road, however brief that may be.
This has become a concern for Euro NCAP – an independent safety body for the automotive industry, which assesses vehicles and provides a five-star safety rating system to help users compare vehicles and identify the safest choice for their needs.
As of January 2026, this safety regulator is introducing new rules that will require the vehicles it assesses to have physical controls for basic functions to receive the maximum five-star safety rating. This means that cars will need to use buttons, dials or stalks for hazard warning lights, indicators, windscreen wipers, SOS calls and the hooter or horn.
This will no doubt be an issue for many car manufacturers, which have increasingly introduced more functions on their touchscreen interfaces – not least of all because they’re more cost effective to produce than physical buttons and dials.
“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,” said Matthew Avery, director of strategic development at Euro NCAP, to The Times.
While Euro NCAP’s safety guidelines aren’t a legal requirement, it is widely backed by several EU governments. Auto manufacturers such as Tesla, Volvo, VW and BMW take these safety ratings seriously, using the scores to demonstrate the safety of their vehicles.
While drivers and car manufacturers may argue that touchscreens don’t cause distractions, there is research that argues otherwise. In a study conducted by the American Automobile Association (AAA), vehicle infotainment systems take drivers’ eyes and attention off the road and hands off the wheel for potentially dangerous periods of time.
The study showed that drivers using in-vehicle technologies such as voice-based and touch screen features were visually and mentally distracted for more than 40 seconds when completing tasks. According to its research, removing eyes from the road for just two seconds doubles the risk of a crash.
