Carmakers Must Bring Back Physical Controls To Earn 5-Star Safety Rating - NCAP

Drivers in Europe can expect to see a lot more traditional interiors after January 2026, when vehicles must have physical controls for certain functions in order to receive a five-star safety rating.

In order for a car to receive its five-star safety rating, five essential functions—turn signals, hazard warning lights, windshield wipers, horn, and SOS features—must be activated by physical controls, according to new guidelines that the independent vehicle safety organization, the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), says it will be introducing at the beginning of 2026.

"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, Euro NCAP's director of strategic development.

"New Euro NCAP tests due in 2026 will encourage manufacturers to use separate, physical controls for basic functions in an intuitive manner, limiting eyes-off-road time and therefore promoting safer driving," Avery added.

Although NCAP testing is optional and cannot compel automakers to take any action, many carmakers use its ratings to highlight how safe their cars are. Tesla is one of these, and the changes are probably going to affect it the most. Turn signal stalks were replaced with haptic buttons on Elon Musk's cars, a move that has angered many and been criticized for being made purely for financial reasons rather than for the convenience of the public.

Many drivers have voiced concerns about the growing amount of technology, particularly touch screens, in new cars, claiming that it is more likely to break and distract than traditional physical controls.

Head of Hyundai Design Sang Yup Lee stated in March of last year that the company was keeping dials and buttons in its cars while the new generation Hyundai Kona was being introduced. According to Lee, the choice was made purely for safety.
In June, VW CEO Thomas Schäfer acknowledged that the touch-sensitive controls that Herbert Diess had added to his company's vehicles had left a number of devoted customers feeling a great deal of annoyance.

In response, Volkswagen interior designer Darius Watola created the ID2.all concept electric car, which has multiple physical buttons below the touchscreen. Watola claimed this would be "a new approach for all models" and attributed it to "recent feedback from customers," particularly those in Europe who requested more physical buttons.