[zihotki]

And more to come! Physical buttons now are a part of European Transport Safety Council requirements to get a high safety rating, from https://etsc.eu/cars-will-need-buttons-not-just-touchscreens...:

"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."

[cromka]

> now are a part of European Transport Safety Council requirements

Actually, no, no official EU organization nor any council mandates that. It's Euro NCAP, an independent organization, who decided they'll include tactile control in their car safety evaluation. It is literally explained in that article.

It will still make a difference, but this is not something EU did.

[elzbardico]

The NCAP and the ETSC usually work very close together.

A lot of times safety innovations are first introduced on NCAP ratings, then the ETSC carefully evaluates adoption and will then advocate for those requirements to become legally binding regulations.

A technical standard will then typically be designed at the UNECE, Then the European Commission will propose it to be discussed and voted both by the EU Parliament and the European Council.

It is not like the NCAP is just the EU version of the US "Consumer Reports". While not a part of the EU, it is a non-profit thoroughly embedded into the development of automotive safety standards in the EU.

[epolanski]

The previous user literally linked the ETSC website.

[tracker1]

From the images, it feels like the buttons are a bit too much in terms of being eyes off.

[tensor]

Having driven a lot of cars with a fuckton of buttons on the steering wheel, how exactly do people use these without having to look down? One or two multi-function buttons connected to a screen is great, but there is no way I would be able to safely use that mess of physical buttons shown in the photos.

[deergomoo]

By feel. Not everyone uses all the buttons all the time, but stuff you use a lot is easily operated without taking eyes off the road. It pairs well with the other upside of physical controls, the manufacturer can’t move them out from under you with a software update.

[bcraven]

The trick is to own your car for a few years at which point you remember where the buttons are by feel.

This is the advantage over a touchscreen - you can't learn those by feel.

[kakacik]

I normally don't look at them, you know by heart which is which and ours has also one up/down sticking out knob on each side (volume & cruise speed control). Combined with very nicely visible laser heads up display I never look on dashboard nor computer screen in the middle while driving.

Staying continuously visually connected with all environment simplifies driving and definitely improves safety. Also thanx to that heads up display I didn't get a single speeding fine while by default driving at the very limit of allowed speed, including our radar-infested towns and highways.

2010-level of tech of bmw f11 is enough for me, the only real improvement would be full unsupervised self driving which isn't coming anytime soon.

[Gud]

It’s not necessarily “a mess”.

I rent A LOT of cars for work and it’s clear that some makes know what the fuck they are doing(Volvo, Toyota) while others don’t.

[Babkock]

You just feel around for it. Buttons on the steering wheel can be a lifesaver because you don't have to reach down or even look at it, you know what you're doing.

[elzbardico]

Usually there are a few buttons that matter to you, and you will memorize their position after some quite short time.

I don't like music while driving, so I know by feel how to mute or turn media/radio off in every car my family has.

My wife can't drive without music, so, she knows all the other media controls I don't care about by muscle memory.

[lawn]

Do you touch type on your keyboard without looking at and searching for letters?

Buttons on the wheel is the same. You simply learn their place and feel.

[linkage]

The same way you're able to touch-type

[saddat]

That’s the point : by memory . You don’t have to move your eyes away from street at all

[wilg]

They don't, it's mostly vibes plus them assuming that the "touchscreen cars" don't have some nebulous physical button that they probably do.

[hnburnsy]

Sounds like the IIHS which has been imposing 'mandates' on car manufacturers with little proof that these mandates are effective. These mandates are costing us all millions in upfront and insurance rates but I never see any evidence that they are worth the cost they impose. Not opposed to the mandates specifically just the lack of cost benefit analysis.

[scottbez1]

Can you be more specific about these “mandates” you take issue with?

IIHS doesn’t have any mandate power over manufacturers (they are not a regulatory body) but they do align with insurance company interests, whose goals are to pay out less for damages from vehicle incidents, and therefore IIHS logically would theoretically be focused on actuarial data-driven analysis. If you have specific examples of where this has not been the case, I’d love to learn more.