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A start, but not far enough: anything a driver might be reasonably expected to do while driving should have a physical control. Zero-force, zero-feedback, zero-travel controls should be illegal for such functions.
Wouldn’t it be safer to require all cars to have voice controls? Then the driver doesn’t have to move their hand off the wheel at all.
"BREAK!"
"BREAAK!!!!"
"OH GOD PLEASE BRAKE!"
crunch
Problems can occur if it the voice system brakes (pun intended). ;)
Couldn't agree more. Tesla is the biggest violator. In new Teslas, they are removing physical stalks, so if you want to reverse the car, you have to use on-screen controls!
Everything I ever hear about Tesla's keeps getting worse and worse. How are they still in business and why does anyone buy one?
Oh, and they replaced ultrasonic sensors with cameras in newer cars.
> In 2026, Euro NCAP points will be deducted if some controls aren't physical. > Euro NCAP is not a government regulator, so it has no power to mandate carmakers use physical controls for those functions. Why isn't this headline clickbait, what am I missing? edit: the headline used to have the word Regulator in it.
If I was buying a new car in the US today, which automakers are doing a better job wrt physical controls?
But the organization wants to see physical controls for turn signals, hazard lights, windshield wipers, the horn Are there really cars where the horn is not a physical button/ring on the steering wheel? IMHO the driving UX peaked in the 1960s, and was largely unchanged into the 2000s, until touch screens started taking over. Compare: https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads... https://images-stag.…
>At least the steering wheel and pedals still behave the same. For now, companies are experimenting with drive by wire. Don't think I like that concept.
A start, but not far enough: anything a driver might be reasonably expected to do while driving should have a physical control. Zero-force, zero-feedback, zero-travel controls should be illegal for such functions.
Wouldn’t it be safer to require all cars to have voice controls? Then the driver doesn’t have to move their hand off the wheel at all.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
“Hey car, honk the horn” “Hey car, signal left” “Hey car, reverse” You’re kidding, right? Even if this worked far better than Siri, it’s too slow.
None of those controls are commonly located on a touch screen, which is the topic of the article.
Those are exactly what is at issue.
This also needs to deal with multiple languages and regional accents for Europe.
If I, an American, rent a car in Germany, do I need to speak German in order to engage the windshield wipers? For that matter, navigating the on screen controls may also be problematic.
Here's a picture of a German car - https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dashboard-luxury-ge...
Do you know which button to push to get the hazard lights on?
It's remarkably similar to my Honda. https://www.sheehyhonda.com/honda-dashboard-light-meanings/ and my parents' Chrysler https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/chrysler/300/2019/photos...
> In 2026, Euro NCAP points will be deducted if some controls aren't physical. > Euro NCAP is not a government regulator, so it has no power to mandate carmakers use physical controls for those functions. Why isn't this headline clickbait, what am I missing? edit: the headline used to have the word Regulator in it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Having previously driven a car with a mildly unreliable power steering system, it’s an extremely good thing that the power steering was backed up with a mechanical linkage (that worked very well — it was surprisingly subtle when the power steering crapped out at 30mph). A drive-by-wire system had better be a lot more reliable and also notice impending failures.
I personally cannot stand power steering systems. There’s always a dead zone and the feedback is delayed, in some vehicles more noticeably than in others, but it’s always there. I feel like I have had several close calls that would have been accidents for sure had I been driving with power steering.
The steering deadzone is not purely a function of power steering. Some of it is design or could be attributed to that, but a bunch of it also comes from slop in the physical connections in the steering column, as well as the suspension bushings, your tyre profile, etc.
This was the primary reason I bought my 2024 Mazda3, instead of alternatives in market. The Mazda was the only option that had physical controls for everything. In fact it disables the touch screen altogether when you exceed 10mph, forcing the use of physical controls. It works flawlessly with wireless carplay