Common sense prevails?

[Rimsy]

About time too - I've always been baffled why the hell it's illegal to touch your phones screen whilst driving but having virtually all your car's controls and info on a giant tablet not even in line of sight of the steering wheel is considered ok?
Form over function to idiotic levels....

Car makers told to ditch distracting touchscreens

From 2026, crash testing body Euro NCAP will introduce rules that downgrade safety ratings of new vehicles that do not have easy-to-use buttons on the dashboard to control simple operations.

www.thisismoney.co.uk

 

[Kenai]

it's illegal to touch your phones screen whilst driving

I made more detailed posts in another thread recently on this topic but as the law is worded, i'm pretty sure it's not illegal to touch it if it's mounted, only if you need to hold it.

"Indicators, hazard warning lights, windscreen wipers, horn, and SOS features will have to be controlled by proper switches in order for cars to be granted Euro NCAP’s coveted five star safety rating."

Have many cars actually started putting those particular functions through touchscreens?

 

[GravyMonster]

FINALLY.

Not only are they distracting but they're a complete PITA to use.

 

[Ayahuasca]

It was always a stupid idea; we're designed with the sense of touch to be able to feel and know roughly or exactly what something is without actually looking at it.

 

[lordrobs]

On the one hand this is completely sensible and we should never have got to the stage where there should be any question over whether there is a physical button for your hazard warning lights. So if that starts to reverse the trend then excellent.

On the other hand I can't get on board with the Euro NCAP tick box approach to car 'safety'. It just ends up with poorly implemented systems to get a tick in the relevant box.