Euro NCAP, renowned for its rigorous crash tests culminating in a five-star rating system, is now setting its sights on another critical aspect of automotive safety: the interface design.
Beyond merely assessing passive safety features, the organization is broadening its scope to evaluate the ease of use and distraction potential of active safety systems. Recent reports from British AutoExpress suggest that Euro NCAP is gearing up for an expansion in its evaluation criteria.
In an upcoming assessment dubbed the ‘Safe Driving’ test, Euro NCAP is poised to push car manufacturers towards adopting physical, straightforward controls for essential functions.
The rationale behind this push is clear: touchscreen interfaces, while prevalent in modern vehicles, have been found to be highly distracting and cumbersome, posing significant safety risks.
Richard Schram, Euro NCAP’s Technical Director, emphasizes the importance of employing tactile controls for crucial driving functions such as windshield wipers, hazard lights, and turn signals.
Failure to incorporate such controls could potentially preclude a car from achieving a five-star rating. While most vehicles currently offer these functions through conventional buttons and switches—a design that ensures ease of operation—exceptions like Tesla’s latest models, which utilize digital touch buttons on the steering wheel for windshield wipers and indicators, have raised concerns.
While these touch buttons may not constitute full-fledged touchscreens, they still fall short of meeting Euro NCAP’s criteria for ease of operation. Consequently, Euro NCAP’s initiative serves as a preemptive measure to deter other manufacturers from following suit.
There is growing anticipation within the automotive community for similar measures to extend to other essential functions like climate control, seat heating, and safety systems, aiming to streamline user interfaces and enhance overall driving safety.
