EuroNCAP Tightens Standards, Cars with Minimal Buttons Threatened to Drop Ratings

Car settings on the touchscreen. (Photo: Tesla)

JAKARTA - Safety authorities in Europe are starting to lose patience with the dominance of hidden menus and swipe gestures in modern car cabins. New standards are designed to ensure manufacturers continue to provide decent physical controls for the vehicle's crucial functions.

If this rule is ignored, the consequences are serious with a five-star safety rating floating. A similar trend is also beginning to be seen in China.

Launching from Carscoops, Monday, February 23, the discourse on tightening regulations in the country with the world's largest automotive market indicates that excessive use of touch screens will likely be restricted.

Starting this year, EuroNCAP as an independent institution evaluating vehicle safety in Europe, has established the obligation to use physical controls. The buttons are for important functions such as turn signals, wipers, hazard lights, horns, and SOS systems.

All of these functions must no longer depend on the surface of the touch screen. If this provision is violated, one star will immediately be deducted from the vehicle safety rating without exception.

There is no appeal, and software updates cannot be a way out. Although EuroNCAP is not a regulator in the legal sense, its rating has a huge influence on consumers and manufacturers.

Referring to the Auto News report, brands that market cars in Europe basically have a transition period of about three years to adjust their interior designs if they want to maintain the highest safety value.

Frank Mütze from the European Transport Safety Council considers this policy to be only a first step. According to him, regulators need to go further by making physical control for the main function a legal obligation.

The reason is simple: the longer the driver is engrossed in a digital menu, the greater the potential for their attention to be diverted from the road. The EU's voluntary guidelines are ineffective because today's touchscreens and infotainment systems are distracting and unsafe," he said.

"EuroNCAP requiring physical controls for some functions is a right and commendable step. However, now we need EU regulators to follow up and adopt legally binding requirements for all vehicles," he continued.

In practice, the majority of new cars still retain physical buttons for vital functions such as sirens, hazards, horns, and SOS. However, there are notable exceptions. The Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y, for example, only provide basic wiper buttons, while more detailed settings must be accessed via the touchscreen in the center of the dashboard.

This approach may feel fine, until the rain comes down harder than expected and drivers have to be busy navigating the screen. Meanwhile, Beijing is also studying similar restrictions on screen-based controls.

In a recent proposal, core functions such as turn signals, emergency calls, and gear selection are required to use a button or switch with a minimum size of 10 mm x 10 mm. In essence, the controls must be able to be easily pressed without having to go through a digital submenu.

The rules will take effect in 2027, and the impact could be significant, especially for manufacturers that rely heavily on touchscreens for almost all vehicle functions. With the size of the European and Chinese market influences, the effects of this policy could potentially spread to global markets.