To my relief, it looks like the answer to the question “is it just me?” is no.
Too many cars in recent times have had me despairing at the number of controls that have migrated away from physical buttons and onto touchscreens.
In some cases this is slightly annoying; in others I believe it’s borderline dangerous. Now the influential car safety rating organisation Euro NCAP has decided that, from 2026, it will award five-star ratings only to cars that retain physical controls for key features.
To qualify, a car must have buttons, stalks or dials for its indicators, windscreen wipers, hazard warning lights, horn and SOS function. This list of items is welcome but not as exhaustive as I would like.
You would have to be some kind of psychopath to not want those controls immediately available where they always are, wouldn’t you?
Given that only a few car makers have moved any wiper activity from physical controls and, to my knowledge, only Tesla has made the baffling and idiotic decision to put indicators on smooth, unfeelable and moving buttons (on a steering-wheel spoke in the latest Tesla Model 3), this decision ought to prevent more mission creep but largely sets the limits at where we are now.
I would prefer Euro NCAP to ask that things that are becoming common be undone.
The Volvo EX30, for example, which last year drove me to distraction by having no physical controls for its door mirrors, wiper sensitivity, climate control (excluding a roof-mounted and not feelably delineated demister button), lights (including the foglight) or driver assistance systems, nor a quickly turnable/pushable volume control, could still qualify for five Euro NCAP stars. I wanted to burn it.
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Market forces. Don't buy a car that has a sh-t interface. Tesla's decision on the Model 3 is total stupidity to save a couple of quid. BMW if you're listening, if you carry on down this path my next car won't be from you.
It's 43 years since I passed my driving test, there used to be a separate test for automatic gearbox drivers. Now, with the proliferation of automatic handbrakes and other driver aids, has the driving test been fragmented even further?
It's not Euro NCAP's job to persuade manufacturers to keep conventional control, rather it should come under Type Approval rules to insist upon it. And in any event most high end and specialist cars are not tested by the safety body.
Alternatively perhaps the insurance companies should create a touch screen premium.