Are touchscreens replacing physical buttons making cars objectively less safe, or is this just nostalgia talking?

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Enjoy_The_Ride413@reddit

You all say you want buttons while looking down at your phones the entire morning commute never paying attention. The people who say this are in older cars sadly. Most modern cars have auto everything! Your lights, your wipers, your climate. You set it and forget it. The only tapping or touching is maybe changing the radio. Even then, most now have subscriptions like Spotify or Sirius and you're not touching anything. The ones complaining digital stinks, go plug your 8 track back in. If you are worried about delay, you haven't driven a car with great software. I dare say the name of the company but this place will have a melt down if you mention the T word. And finally, what are you all touching constantly while driving? Seriously how often are you needing to change anything while driving? Especially your climate.

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RemoteVersion838@reddit

Ideally its counteracted by steering wheel controls.

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AgonizingGasPains@reddit

As a pilot, I think it is very much less safe. In airplanes, the landing gear handle is shaped like a wheel, the flaps are flat, the throttle is cylindrical, etc. Very tactile. Any time you are forced to shift your eyes back inside the "cockpit" (and kill your situational awareness) is an accident waiting to happen.

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ActuaryFew6884@reddit

yes

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Samsonlp@reddit

Cars are more safe now than ever . Parking sensors automatic lane keeping. Rear view cameras, they are really incredible. Touch screens meet request a glance but you also have steering wheel controls.

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rickuhhh@reddit

No definitely making cars less safe by not having a tactile button or a wheel to make changes Having everything on a screen is just cost cutting measure done by the manufacturer to make it seem more “high tech”

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Jaduardo@reddit

I would add that, counterintuitively, digital takes longer. I find myself tapping on some icon and then diverting my attention in about a half second because the action hasn’t taken place.

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airmantharp@reddit

That’s just because car makers aren’t putting in decent CPUs. That and their software is atrocious. The things could and should be as responsive as an arcade game.

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LifeForm8449@reddit

How is this different than saying a manual is safer because you get to make changes to the gears yourself? Perhaps you like manually rolling up your own windows too? Something things are just better automated, like drive train, climate control, and passenger safety.

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FirehawkLS1@reddit

And they treat tech like luxury when it truly isn't.

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AKADriver@reddit

Luxury in our world is being able to separate yourself from tech. CEOs might extol the virtues of how tech lets them work 24/7, but even for them, when they need a break, do they go home and play COD? No, they go to the top of a mountain in Bhutan or something. Being able to just sit in your car without taking calls or getting notifications is a petty little luxury but it's one they want to take away from you anyway.

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Nstraclassic@reddit

How tf are you going to say a fucking turn dial is safer than a touch screen lol? If you cant handle tapping a screen while driving just dont and find somewhere to pull over. Most consoles dont even let you do anything while the car is moving

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tnsipla@reddit

They typically disable any appreciable settings level stuff but any operational level items (like climate control, drive mode, autostop, brake hold) or media level (xm radio tuning, source select) are typically available

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WhichAd366@reddit

Most manufacturers have gone back to using tactile buttons for frequently used features like climate control, and stereo controls. An interesting switch that happened with CarPlay is that navigation features can be adjusted while driving. When navigation systems were closed loops the Nav features were locked while the vehicle was in drive.

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Daimler-450@reddit

Depends on how it’s implemented and which functions are controlled through the touchscreen. I’m pretty sure the BMW iX3 got rid of manually adjustable vents, so now you have to use the screen to move them, which just feels unnecessary and distracting. You’d have to look at the screen just to adjust airflow while driving, which is unsafe.

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BlueMonday2082@reddit

Absolute less safe. Legislation incoming.

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Glum-Welder1704@reddit

I believe so, but I've never driven a car with a touchscreen. The cars I drive, I can reach down and tell by feel the identity and setting of each dash control. Seems to me that touchscreens take your eyes off the road more.

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Remarkable-Owl-5712@reddit

Nostalgia. Don't miss buttons at all in my Tesla. Any crucial things like windshield wipers I can map to the buttons on the steering wheel.

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MrPogoUK@reddit

Despite the massive screens mine’s actually got physical buttons for all the major stuff, plus voice activation which I can just tell it to “aircon on, temperate set to…, fan speed up” etc without even needing to take my hands off the wheel to find the buttons.

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No-Housing-1004@reddit

Objectively less safe, you have to actually look and press at the screen to make selections, this is not a safe activity to do while driving at 60 MPH

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Numerous_Row5207@reddit

All the tech in cars is making them less reliable. The cost to repair tech issues will see otherwise sound cars being written off as they age.

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AKADriver@reddit

Sort of. Let me tell you that one of the biggest PITA parts to get a hold of in an older car is buttons and switchgear. A lot of the same reason the manufacturers love touchscreens is at play here - making a button that works for a million presses in a car interior environment (lots of vibration, high heat and cold) and putting it in a custom plastic enclosure for each model and trim gets expensive and they don't keep that stuff in stock past 10-15 years. From a DIY repair perspective touchscreens don't *help* but replacing say the mechanical power window switches for a 1995-1998 240SX means either shelling out hundreds for a good unit (if you can even find one) or making something yourself.

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Numerous_Row5207@reddit

I have never had to change a button ever on any car that I have owned, and some of those have been quite old cars. If a button does go down it is only it's specific function that is affected. A temporary repair could be done using a different type of switch, or switches from another model could be made to fit. If a screen goes down then every function goes down and on an older car replacement could be enough to make it now worth the cost to repair. It's not just the screens, even things like headlights have become over complicated, and very expensive to repair.

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AKADriver@reddit

I've never *personally* had a screen fail, either, but I gave you two examples of button-interface failures that do happen. I'm not making this problem up: https://www.reddit.com/r/240sx/search?q=s14+window+switch&restrict_sr=on A crafty person could wire in a generic toggle and someone with better skills could 3D print something nice. But the average person or even the average mechanic when confronted with a 20 year old car with broken switchgear that's discintinued by the manufacturer is going to basically be dead in the water just the same as a dead screen. And yes, it often just takes out a single function, which is fine, but that function can be pretty critical if it's a headlight switch or window switch.

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Numerous_Row5207@reddit

It's not just screens that are the issue, it's all the other tech, lights, sensors etc, a lot of issues relating to these things is already happening under warrantee, for example when did you ever need to change a steering wheel under warrantee (not crash related damage) this is a thing now and is very expensive. Things like this out of warrantee could be enough to write a vehicle off, particularly if "electronic safety systems" do not operate correctly which may lead to wof failing and the car no longer suitable for use.

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espressocycle@reddit

Especially when manufacturers don't offer the parts or required programming anymore. It's already happening. Turn signal goes out and instead of a bulb it's a module that is no longer made or only available as after market crap, and even if you replace it the dealer needs to program it and after 10 years they get rid of the tools to do that.

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elquirk@reddit

Nothing like a single purpose knob, which is why the sound system still has a volume and power knob when you have to turn it down or off fast. I don’t mind the rest being on a touchscreen.

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Tron_35@reddit

Studies have shown that touchscreens are making it take longer for drivers to complete actions, say instead of simply pressing a button to turn on your defrosters, now you need to navigate a menu, which takes longer and means you are driving longer with less attention to the road. And sure the time is negligible, but all those seconds Add up over time.

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mondaymoderate@reddit

They started making touchscreens in the 80s and studies showed they were unsafe then and so they never caught on.

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Tron_35@reddit

Not to mention stupid expensive back then. They are much cheaper now, which is why they push them so much, its cheaper than making all the physical controls

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Panthera_014@reddit

they are moving back to buttons - the touchscreen has it's place - but should not have to dig 2 or 3 levels to adjust the fan speed

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rynep@reddit

I’d like to know why people have to push so many buttons while driving.

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Strange-Vibez-8205@reddit

In cars like Jaguars, touch screens are more prone to lag, but if you're in a Tesla and that ipad lags, you're just cooked, I never drove a Tesla so i wouldn't know, but I know the dashboard, apps and what have you are all in one screen

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Cornelius-Figgle@reddit

I know someone with a 2022 Model Y and the massive iPad is the only thing in that car. No dials; literally nothing behind the wheel. It looks cheap as fuck imo.

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Animanganime@reddit

There are two dials and a bunch of buttons on the wheel. The dials can click downward, click left click right, scroll up and down so they do a lot. Their functions also vary depends on what the car is doing. For example when there is a phone call click left is answer click right is ignored. Left wheel is programmable for anything function of your liking. Double click and long click also register. I’m not saying it’s safer but it’s not as bad as you guys are making it to be

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Blog_Pope@reddit

Tesla is the problem, they went way too far moving everything to the screen

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Animanganime@reddit

Buttons and knobs are safer I agree but when the Tesla’s screen is dead for example you’re absolutely NOT cooked. Signals, volume, gear shift, wiper are on the wheel and stalks (stalks are back). Speedometer is on your phone app as a backup.

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ObviousAlias7@reddit

Drive down any windy road while trying to touch a button on the screen to activate/deactivate something that should be a hard press and you'll find it is a safety issue. That's compounded by the fact that usually you need to press the button, divert your eyes back to the road, and then go back to the screen to see if your button press registered at all, or if you slipped and hit the one next to it. Rinse and repeat 3-4 times while trying to dodge potholes or someone driving a bike on a narrow road or any other situation that is not perfectly straight with plenty of room. Then lets hope the vehicle your are driving doesn't have software issues that results in a black screen requiring a restart/reboot to reset. Until you can safely pull over and do that, you are stuck with the lack of ability to hit any button at all. Some manufacturers are going back to buttons for things like HVAC or traction control off, but some manufacturers are fully committed to full digital integration.

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Saruvan_the_White@reddit

Any car with a screen bigger than your cell phone should be suspect to anyone who takes safety seriously

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tulitikku117@reddit

The touchscreen in itself doesn't actually seem to increase distraction compared to physical buttons or knobs. There are differences between touchscreen interfaces though, some being better designed than others. I'm working in a research project about this very subject so its quite interesting to read the conversation online.

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bae125@reddit

It’s not nostalgia at all. There is no way to develop tactile memory with touchscreen buttons like you can with physical ones. It will always require a look. Touchscreens are only there because they’re cheaper, not because they’re better

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audaciousmonk@reddit

Definitely less safe Buttons (when designed correctly): tactile, fixed location, self identifying, intuitive, no need to take eyes off the road Touch screen: None of the above. Prone to glare. Often creates distraction or removal of eye from road to use imo critical & essential functions should have physical buttons as a legal requirement, can complement with synced touch screen controls if desired

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drumzandice@reddit

What would you consider critical functions? For most cars as far as I’m aware lights, signals and windshield wipers are all tactile switches. I suppose you could say climate control is critical and a lot of those are touchscreen but actually operating the car safely, I think they don’t use touchscreens.

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audaciousmonk@reddit

I drove a Tesla that lacked a physical shifter for P/R/D, it was done by swiping on the touchscreen. No stalk for the signal indicator lights either, it has been replaced by two small buttons on the steering wheel that weren’t self identifying nor intuitive Arguably climate control and radio volume are things people frequently use while driving. That should be able to happen without taking eyes off the road, not having to mess around on a touch screen

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robindawilliams@reddit

Anything that someone feels inclined to interact with while the vehicle is in motion. Anything you or I might change while driving in a straight line safely, a driver making bad judgement calls might try to change while taking a turn or changing lanes and they will be not much better than someone on their phone. Radio, calling, climate controls, navigation, radar follow distance, etc. Looking down and away from the horizon just means they aren't looking forward and definitely aren't checking their mirrors or what is happening 5 seconds ahead of them on the road. At least for some cars, the ability to do stuff with voice commands has kept up a bit but that will rarely be good enough that the average driver favors it over hamfisting their way through a menu.

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frosty_power@reddit

I hate all the new cars and the tech in them. Went to the car show and saw the new Escalade, what a POS. The whole front dash is a screen. If that ever broke, you wouldn't even be able to do anything in the car, maybe not even start it. Imaging the cost to replace that? Might as well throw away the car.

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Jonny-Raze@reddit

Definitely less safe.

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eXo0us@reddit

European NCAP and China ruled on that and now mandating buttons again for Top Safety Ratings. So they looked at the statistics and determined that cars with buttons are safer then those without - scientific evidence. No Nostalgia - pure hard facts. * Cars need **physical buttons for key functions** to get 5-star ratings Typical required physical controls: * Indicators * Hazard lights * Wipers * Horn * Emergency (eCall)

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espressocycle@reddit

What about the impact of all these screens on night vision? I never see that discussed.

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Apptubrutae@reddit

Most any car I’ve been in has had good adjustment for screen brightness

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SmallHeath555@reddit

Heating and cooling as well as answering the phone should require physical buttons

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MaleficentExtent1777@reddit

China is also mandating normal door handles!!! 🥰

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eXo0us@reddit

Most cars I know have a phone button on the steering wheel. I agree with heating and cooling. But honestly, with a good climate control I hardly ever touch mine. Might be more in the lower tiers, e.g. in my 2006 Volvo XC90 with 3 zone climate I literally set it once and don't ever fiddle it with again. While my much newer cars need constant adjustment. There should be a logic tree, have a amazing climate control system, you don't need excessive buttons and dials. If you ha a bad system which needs changes, you 100% need buttons. But will be hard to have a good metric...

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7eregrine@reddit

Dibs on asking this next week!

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SailingSpark@reddit

My last couple of cars have had digital climate controls. To use them you have to look away from the road to make sure you are pushing the right buttons. While I have not had a car with a touch screen, I bet they are 10X worse. Of course you can go the other way and have cars like my late father's V90 Volvo with buttons everywhere. I hate to say it, but unless you are scottish, voice controls may be the way to go in the future.

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westguy41@reddit

It does make it less safe in my opinion. For example I always control my radio from the steering wheel buttons because I get distracted trying to touch the screen to do it. I have a 2024 so I’m fortunate enough to still physical buttons for my hvac and seat heater/vent

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Comfortable-Shoe9543@reddit

I would never buy a car with a touch screen.

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Scrappy_The_Crow@reddit

Touch screens are definitely less safe. * With a touch screen, you cannot use muscle memory to instantaneously touch and manipulate a switch or knob without looking down into the cabin, taking focus away from the environment/road. * Switches and knobs are also at the "top level" (assuming it isn't a guarded switch, which is unlikely), unlike touch screens, which often have multiple levels/steps to get to the function you want, all the while having the problem of taking your focus away from the environment/road. Not to be harsh, but the question sounds to be coming from a person who has mostly (or all) experience with touch screens, so is ignorant of the human factors differences.

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Binford6100User@reddit

Your first bullet point sounds like someone that hasn't lived with a touchscreen only vehicle. I've owned everything from an '67 Chevy to a '24 Rivian. Once you know where the commands are on the screen; they're still largely controlled with muscle memory. Muscle memory is muscle memory, regardless of the target being a screen or a button or a knob.

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Scrappy_The_Crow@reddit

> Your first bullet point sounds like someone that hasn't lived with a touchscreen only vehicle. You are correct, I only have tens of thousands of miles in a part-touchscreen vehicle, which IMO gives me enough credibility for my opinion.

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Binford6100User@reddit

I too have hundreds of thousands of miles in part-touchscreen vehicles. I also have tens of thousands of miles in a fully touchscreen vehicle. The difference is minimal at best and largely depends on UI design. Far more than the simple fact of it being a touchscreen or not. As you know, you're allowed to have any opinion you want, just understand that yours is less than fully informed based on your lack of experience with the subject matter. You can't throw stones at OP for not having experience, when you also haven't worn the other shoes.

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Unique_Watch4072@reddit

Or OP is just a new driver or rarely drives cars. But I don't think your last paragraph sounded harsh at all.

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Ejmct@reddit

Yeah the real problem is that you need to go through multiple menus just to turn on the seat heaters or AC or whatever.

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Lopsided_Quarter_931@reddit

A group of car enthusiasts is always biased towards nostalgia. I know with my new car that happens to have a big touchscreen all the automations work much better. I’m not sure why people keep changing their setting. I know on a big screen I see all Infos at once and can control them with a single touchscreen interaction instead of some deep nested old school arrow click menu.

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foilstoke@reddit

*"Don't use your phones while driving!! But here's a massive touchscreen in the middle of the dash for you to interact, distract and menu dive with while driving."*

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mdr1384@reddit

Touch screens suck, they are totally aware of it too. They don't let you do stuff like swipe scroll when the vehicle is in gear, which means they KNOW it's a hazard and yet they did it anyway. The navigation knob on my MINI (BMW) lets you do everything easily and with no distraction.

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Robviously-duh@reddit

you are not wrong.. screens require visual then tactile connections... buttons, switches and knobs don't..

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SailBeneficialicly@reddit

You can add buttons to most vehicles thanks to the aftermarket. Tesla is prewired for adding buttons

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no-guts_no-glory@reddit

Objectively less safe. No muscle memory means you have to break focus to look at and navigate a menu. It's also frustrating, slower, and often times less aesthetic. There's also the fact that if the screen stops working you're shit outta luck. Some car companies balance the two by having tactile buttons in addition to the screen but not all of them.

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just_kinda_here_blah@reddit

I did think they made the car a little less safe, but my BF just got a new car and it has a touch pad by the cup holder. Yes, its basically a mouse pad. Outta the 2, the touch screen is safer but I miss the buttons.

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AKADriver@reddit

I can't speak specifically to safety without a study, but a preference isn't just nostalgia if you can still get back into a car without primary touch controls and find that it actually works better for you. Nostalgia is a longing for the good old days that never were, but there are still tens of millions of cars made before 2020 on the road that you can compare to and decide if it works for you.

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biggunzcdb1@reddit

Touch screens are nightmare tech. Everyone knows it doesn't work and we are putting it everywhere. Just because it sounds cool. Buttons can be cleaned. Contacts can be replaced. But touch screens don't work brand new and the only option is complete replacement. Nightmare for consumers. Only control interface easily broken. Nightmare for consumers.

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salvage814@reddit

The idea of touch screen controls where they are intended for passenger use or to be adjusted before you set off never really worked cause people will mess with things randomly.

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Background-Sock4950@reddit

Idk man would you trust an airline pilot controlling the plane with an iPad?

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Legitimate-Duty-5622@reddit

Nostalgia

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Technical_Editor_197@reddit

I mean unsure how old you are. But just a comparison. I've had a phone with physical buttons. I could text with phone behind my back easly. With touchscreen no shot. Same goes for car with me. If I have a dial for AC or radio it is easy to change everything or turn it off. If I have to tap on a screen since it is constantly changes this is not so easy. So usually you have to check it.

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No_Ant_5064@reddit

I have not met a single person who says they prefer touchscreens.

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espressocycle@reddit

They're out there but there are people who would pay to see Carrot Top too.

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Evening-Tomatillo-47@reddit

From my seat I can't see the blower dial (it's behind my sat nav) but I can find it with a quarter of a second glance at worst. I can't skip to the next song without looking at the touchscreen

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afops@reddit

Less safe. That said: you don't need buttons for absolutely everything. You need them for stuff you want to change when driving. Wipers, climate, lights absolutely need physical buttons. Volume/Tracks for stereo? Yeah, probably nice to have, but those should be on the steering wheel anyway (So it's fine to have the same buttons on a touch screen button for the passenger). Anything non-critical that should be done while standing still anyway (car setup, navigation, ...) not only could be touch, it *should* be touch. Because you want to be able to upgrade that system any number of times over the years to things where you have no idea how many buttons are needed and what they should do. And manufacturers shouldn't be tempted to create the worst UX as a solution to this: the "hybrid" where you have rows of generic physical buttons next to a display, so the meaning of the buttons is indicated on the display, not on the button. That just means the button layout is unintuitive, the buttons will not be self identifying (even when looking at them). Just do physical + touch and draw the line between "critical" and "extra" functions.

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No_Tea2802@reddit

They just tryna make everything look fancy while sacrificing safety like wtf

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ms_merry@reddit

If you held the screen in your hand while looking at it, even at a stoplight, in Illinois, that’s a ticket for impaired driving. So it’s stuck on the dash, and that’s safe? The studies have been done. Looking at a screen is more dangerous and causes more accidents than DUI.

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ogonga@reddit

In the 2025 Kia Carnival, the climate controls were on a touch panel. That same panel can be switched to display something else by touching a specific touch "button". Imagine doing that while in traffic. Absolute trash design.

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dumpitdog@reddit

Muscle memory is an amazing thing and having no physical feedback while altering car functions is insane when dealing with a complex task.

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MVmikehammer@reddit

Well, with a center stack full of buttons for radio, AC and whatnot, once you learn the shapes and locations of the buttons you can essentially go by feel and not have to take your eyes off the road. Also, with physical buttons, essentially all you could or would ever want to do (including dialing a phone number) is in a single "menu" level. And even it it were dual level (like Lexus hiding additional buttons behind rotating panels or some automakers having multi-use buttons (like AC on mid-00s Mercedes-Benz), depending on selector switch), you can still go by location and tactile feel. Screens offer significantly less tactile feel. To use the screen blind without taking your eyes off the road, you either need a screen reader, or to simplify it to absurdly large areas compared to physical buttons (think a 15" portrait screen divided into separate upper and lower section only, one for volume, one for ac). And you definitely cannot have multi-level menus unless you have some information in the gauge cluster or HUD (at which point why not move the entire control stack onto the steering wheel, gauge cluster and/or HUD).

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Disastrous-Group3390@reddit

I agree wholeheatedly except I’d like to emphasize that that the ZERO feel the screens offer is not just ‘significantly less’ than real buttons. That’s like saying ‘Cyanide is significantly less healthy as food than bran cereal.’ Manufacturers perfected the HVAC controls over 50 years ago. Either three knobs (Ford, all the Japanese, plus many others) where one is ‘what function?’, one is ‘what temp?’ and one is ‘how fast?’ and the other perfect design GM used well into the ‘80s: two sliders and a flippy switch, the flippy switch being ‘how fast?’

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MVmikehammer@reddit

I haven't experienced too many screens, but some have built-in vibration for feedback, and there's also the capacitive touch. I still remember a different type of touch from late 1990s, that was completely without feedback, like touching an old crt tv screen.

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Sad-Corner-9972@reddit

We drive something close to a base model that has buttons and knobs and a small screen. The latest version has a huge screen-we will stick with what we’ve got.

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GroundbreakingMud996@reddit

This very thing makes me hate new cars!

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PLEASEHIREZ@reddit

They already did a srudy in this, less safe. If the buttons for frequent use are in place, then it doesn't matter. Also, many nee cars are voice activated, so if you use voice controls then you're okay as well.

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AlanofAdelaide@reddit

Bring back knobs and switches and slidey things to control the heater

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mostly_kittens@reddit

On my car I do not need to look to adjust the aircon, change channels or volume on the radio. I cars where this is on the touchscreen I have had to look away from the road and in many cases navigate through menus to do this.

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Tuques@reddit

Automation is ironically making cars less safe in general due to the fact that they are replacing actual driver skill. But I dont think buttons vs touchscreen is much of a difference

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LuckInternational336@reddit

The manufacturers know and are moving back to buttons for the most used features. It was just a cost-saving measure and looked cool to people who like flashy lights and stuff.

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R2-Scotia@reddit

I can still remember my first touchscreen car and how annoying and distracting it was in 2010

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IntheShredder_86@reddit

Been saying it for years, and I'm not even old 😆 I'm genuinely disheartened (and kind of appalled at the legality?) at the prevalence of touch screen controls in modern vehicles. And really annoyed when the older cars I'm looking at have their whole radio/control panel replaced with a touch screen module. If you have to look down in order to change something in a car, then it is dangerous. With regular buttons/dials, you can just reach over to change stations, adjust heat/AC, etc without taking eyes off the road. It'll be a cold day in Hell when I accept a car with a screen.

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Prize-Lychee7973@reddit

I definitely notice i spend more time trying to get at the controls. Even things like heated seats and basic ac are just completely screen now. I could by feel adjust almost everything and now it almost necessitates pulling over to get at it.

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SmallHeath555@reddit

it’s illegal in my state to use more than a single touch or tap on a screen while driving. BUT, if I need to change the temp in some cars, or the radio or whatever, I have to violate the law. Curious why lawmakers are not all over this. It’s way harder to control the basic functions of some cars than type a text on my phone.

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Independent_Good5423@reddit

Definitely less safe imo, because i had to see where my finger at instead blindly feeling the button

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Over_Pizza_2578@reddit

I have to look in either case for the thing i want to do. I basically never change temperature, i only need occasionally the defogger or windshield heater. Radio volume and steering wheel heater buttons are on the steering wheel. Heated seats would have a quick access button in the screen of my car thats always present at the same space. Honestly i wouldn't mind if the less commonly pressed buttons would be moved into the screen. The only physical buttons i would need/want are on/off for the radio, drive modes and traction control, defogger, windshield heater, warning signal, temperature for climate control as well as on/off. Manual climate controls are somewhat unnecessary when you have automatic climate control. Everything else can be moved into the screen and it would make zero difference for me. The controls i regularly need that aren't driving related are radio volume and answer phone call, both are on the steering wheel You need a screen regardless since you have a backup camera and anything but a touchscreen makes navigation horrible, keyboards are too big to be practical So id say it depends on the split between buttons and screen functions as well as size and placement

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jrileyy229@reddit

This is just AI training

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Exact-Put-6961@reddit

one of the reasons i like my Toyota. Big knobs for heat and ventilation. Knob for Radio volume. Space for spare wheel. All these taken away in so many other cars. Toyata did not achieve its dominance by accident.

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skornd713@reddit

Definite fair assumption/fact. I always make the comparison to the tvs that also had a VHS built in and if the VHS screwed up and you need to get it fixed your out of 2 things one being more important than the other when it comes to all the unnecessary bs that can go wrong with all the tech in a car that we cant fix ourselves.

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ScaryfatkidGT@reddit

Definitely less safe…

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AbruptMango@reddit

They're objectively less safe. Navigating a menu in a screen takes more focus away from driving.

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nadanutcase@reddit

they are a THREAT. since they lack tactile feedback and you cannot count on muscle memory & spatial awareness to reach for them they are as distracting as using a phone while driving. I've been saying that for years now and it's gratifying to see more people wake up to that.

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That_Cartoonist_9459@reddit

This is why you don't normalize "there are no stupid questions" because you get this shit.

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UniquePotato@reddit

NCAP mark cars down for having essential controls on touchscreens.

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_eg0_@reddit

There have been many studies going back decades that haptic controls are safer. Large organizations about safety like Euro NCAP also push for buttons and less reliance on screens.

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halfcocked1@reddit

My wife and I were just talking about that. I think it makes it less safe since you have to look over to click on the "page" you want and have too much scrolling to do while driving. It seems less safe than answering a phone call (with a phone), which is already illegal in some states.

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Slipknot31286sic6@reddit

For whatever reason usa on the train of lcd no buttons. Now in China it'll be law soon to bring back buttons and less lcd. 😆

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