Carmakers are equipping their latest models with fancy touchscreens, but that could cause problems with Europe’s largest car safety authority.
The European New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) is revamping its rating system starting Jan. 1, 2026 to mandate that five of a car’s primary controls — its horn, windshield wipers, turn signals, hazard warning lights and SOS features — will need physical buttons or switches.
Car models will have to comply to get NCAP’s coveted five-star rating. The scheme is voluntary but is heeded by most automakers because it’s closely monitored by consumers.
Belgium-based NCAP says that purely digital controls are a potential safety issue.
Okay. In what way?
Ineffective and authoritarian, ready to jump into any new war, a populace that votes against their own best interest because of what their leader with a bad haircut tells them, staunch opponents to anything that could be labeled progress?
I can’t answer your question because I don’t know. But I take it maybe you mean that as a rhetorical question?
Sounds very bad if true, which I have no doubt it is.