Are touch screens in cars dangerous?

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. The Economist 3 min Read 20 Sept 2025, 01:16 pm is than fiddling with the screen of a smartphone while driving is distracting, and it is probably risky as well. Summary likely and safety organizations are beginning to note that it may not have been the first to have a touch screen, but it was Tesla’s Model S, with its minimalist cabin built around a large full-color show, setting the tendency. Almost every new car sold has a high-tech, futuristic screen for years, which controls everything from the air conditioning and satnav to the music. Even safety features such as automatic track conservation sometimes become screen control. But are touch screens safe? The case for the prosecution is simple. If you deduce with the screen of a smartphone during management, and therefore are dangerous (and in many countries you earn a fine), it is probably risky as well. Drivers can learn the location of physical controls, and pressure on buttons or tweet buttons without taking their eyes off the road (not least, because many of the most useful are regular on the steering wheel). A touch screen offers no physical feedback, which makes so much more difficult. And because a screen has to do dozens of work, it means finding a specific setting, often by typing several sub-menus. The result, says critics, is a dangerous distraction built into the car itself. Research supports it. In 2022, Vi Bilagare, a Swedish car magazine, measured how long it took drivers to do things such as switching to a new radio station or changing the temperature while driving 110 kilometers per hour. It compared 11 cars with touch screens with a single older model with real buttons. In the old car, drivers were able to perform all their tasks within ten seconds, during which the car was about 300 meters. In the modern car that performs the worst (an Mg Marvel R), the same tasks lasted 45 seconds, during which the car traveled 1.4 km. Even in the best performing models (from Volvo, an expensive Swedish brand, and Dacia, a cheap Romanian), testers still took a few seconds longer than in the old car. Another study, conducted in 2024 by researchers from Sintef, a Norwegian contract research organization, used cameras on the can to compare how long drivers were distracted while performing different tasks on a touch screen. Even the fastest work – which changes the temperature – on average three and a half seconds, not to look at the road. Finding a new radio station lasted 11 seconds and put a new address in the satnav. An analysis published in 2020 by the Transport Research Laboratory, a British organization, found that touch screens had harmed the reaction time of a driver more than manage the legal alcohol border. Safety organizations are starting to note. From January, new rules of Euro Ncap, an organization that provides security assessments for cars sold in Europe, will mean that no car can get a full five-star score unless some important features-for example, indicators, or the windshield wipers are controlled by real switches. EUR NCAP safety guidelines have no legal power. But car manufacturers use its ratings as a point of sale. Carmakers who return to buttons can also earn other benefits. Many drivers do not like touch screens for reasons other than safety, and find them fine and annoying to use. Volkswagen, Hyundai and Porsche, among other things, started restoring at least a few buttons on their new models, referring to the non -scores of the drivers. But innovation never stops. Although touch screens fall out of favor, many manufacturers draw their attention to voice control – although it is a topic for another story. Catch all the industry news, bank news and updates on live currency. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates. More Topics #Passenger Vehicles Read the following story