Voice instructions simpler and safer for drivers to make use of than touchscreens

Motorists have become more reliant on using voice controls in cars due to major distraction concerns around operating tech-heavy touchscreen systems, new study claims.

More than half of drivers say they feel safer asking their motors to change settings on the move – such as tuning to a radio station or setting a new sat-nav destination – rather than fumbling to find a button or trying to work though the ever-increasing number of menus and submenus loaded into large and overcomplicated infotainment displays.

The findings from the study come as vehicle safety bodies have told car makers to ditch distracting touchscreen systems and reintroduce button and switch controls to avoid being penalised in crash test ratings.

In a What Car? poll of 954 drivers with vehicles that have voice control systems built in, nearly three-quarters (71 per cent) said they find being able to use spoken commands an easier way to navigate the abundance of features now available in the latest models.

With manufacturers seemingly pivoting away from physical buttons and operating switches in favour of bulking controls into touchscreens – usually to give an uncluttered cabin feel – this is having a detrimental impact on driver distraction.

And this is already an increasing problem on our roads; distraction is listed as a factor in 17 per cent of all accidents in 2022 – up from 13 per cent a decade earlier.

Its wider poll of almost 1,500 UK drivers (including those with motors without voice command tech) also found that manufacturers’ fixation with fitting their latest models with complicated iPad-style gadgets is becoming a major turn-off.

Three in five (60 per cent) said they would be put off purchasing a model that didn’t have traditional buttons and switches on the dashboard and relied heavily on touchscreen controls.

In contrast, just 8 per cent said they would be more attracted to a motor with a completely uncluttered cockpit with almost all the functions adjustable via a flashy touchscreen system.

Worryingly, 60 per cent of the UK motorists surveyed said they have been distracted from safe driving while operating in-car controls – although What Car? points out that these distractions are not limited solely to touchscreen interfaces, which are used by more than one-in-seven drivers.

When the respondents with voice control tech in their cars were asked why they prefer using it over touchscreens, safety and not having to take their eyes off the road were cited as the main reasons, with many complaining that they found it difficult to press the correct icons on a display screen without looking.

With Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri and Hey Google used more than ever, motorists are increasingly turning to spoken-word technology, according to What Car?, which has put the latest voice control systems to the test.

It tested 20 new models sold in showrooms right now and timed how long it took to perform commonly-used sat-nav, air-conditioning and radio-related tasks using both voice control and touchscreens. 

It found that a competent voice control system beats a touchscreen hand down in reducing distraction while at the wheel, because the driver doesn’t have to look away from the road at all.

However, not all voice control systems are equal, and nearly three in five users (58 per cent) told us they had experienced problems with a voice control system not understanding a command.

The best systems, such as BMW’s iDrive, Renault’s OpenR and Volvo’s Google Built-in, give the driver a number of ways of accessing frequently used functions. This means they can enter a postcode into the sat-nav using the touchscreen when parked, and then use voice control to change the destination if plans alter on-route.

The worst are systems built into current Vauxhall and Suzuki models, the study found. 

What Car? Consumer Editor, Claire Evans, said there is a real gulf in the market in terms of operating systems.

‘BMW’s iDrive system was the clear leader in both our tests of voice control and physical or touchscreen controls. It was proof that quick responses to natural-language commands is key to quickly – and safely – performing operations without taking your eyes off the road,’ she explained.

Ditch overcomplicated touchscreens, car makers told

New safety tests are due to arrive shortly to pile pressure on car makers to dial back confusing touchscreen systems that can be distracting for drivers to use on the move.

From January 2026, crash testing body Euro NCAP will introduce rules that downgrade the safety ratings of new vehicles that do not have buttons on the dashboard to control simple operations such as indicating and activating hazard warning lights.

Brands including Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, Volkswagen and Volvo are today offering larger, more advanced touchscreens with more controls embedded into them that are convoluted to use while driving.

This is said to be ‘undermining’ the ban on using a phone at the wheel, which since March 2022 will land motorists who touch their device with six penalty points on your licence and a £200 fine (and if, within two years of passing your test, will cost you your licence) if caught by the police or roadside cameras.

For years, road safety experts have been warning that the latest cars are proving an increasingly distracting danger.

This has been fuelled by the growing trend for manufacturers to scrap traditional push-button knobs, switches and dials on car dashboards and replace them with large computer-tablet-style touchscreens.

Designers love these because it clears the dashboard of – as they see it – unnecessary ‘clutter’ to create a clean, minimalist feel.

Industry bean-counters also prefer this setup because it cuts costs by removing switches and wiring in favour of an iPad-style dashboard run by downloadable software.

As a result, drivers are forced to increasingly interact with a touchscreen, which is positioned to the left of the steering wheel and means they must look away from the road.

The electric Tesla Model 3, for instance, doesn’t have a traditional instrument cluster behind the steering wheel to tell them their speed, remaining battery range and satellite navigation turn instructions. Neither does it have a head-up display that beams this information onto the windscreen so a driver can take-in the info without glancing away from the road.

Instead, owners must instead turn their head to look at the 15.4-inch landscape display in the middle of the cabin. 

This pales in comparison to Mercedes’ biggest screen – called the Hyperscreen – which is 55.5 inches wide and spans the entire dashboard of its high-end electric models.

Volkswagen, which has come under criticism as late for its below-par infotainment systems – including slider controls for the temperature and volume settings below the touchscreen that are not backlit, meaning they are incredibly difficult to locate at night – also continues to shift simple controls into its elaborate touchscreen systems.

The new ID.7 electric saloon does away with conventional vents to blow hot and cold air towards passengers and instead the driver has to tap the screen to adjust the intensity and direction the flow of air is distributed.

Even Volvo, a brand that’s been a byword for vehicle safety for decades, is at it.

Its new EX30 EV requires the driver to press through a sub-menu on the car’s touchscreen just to adjust the electric mirrors and the rear window de-mister.

Though not all car makers are going in the same direction.

Mazda has opted to keep traditional controls in its new models.

And it’s the Japanese brand that is likely to score best in Euro NCAP’s new safety tests due to be introduced in 2026.

Under the rules, a vehicle can only score a maximum five-star crash test rating if it has basic control buttons, stalks or dials for five critical tasks: indicating directions, triggering hazard lights, sounding the horn, operating windscreen wipers and activating the eCall SOS function, which automatically calls the emergency services in the event of a serious collision.

Although the safety rules are not mandatory, car makers are desperate to earn top marks to make their vehicles more appealing to consumers and anything but a five-star score can impact sales.

Euro NCAP alongside a number of safety campaigners are growing increasingly frustrated by the distracting characteristics of the latest infotainment system, many of which have a number of sub menus that require lots of concentration and effort to adjust – all while the operator is expected to control the car safely.

They fear this is undermining the Government’s recent steps to ban touching mobile phones at the wheel for the very same reason.

Matthew Avery, director of strategic development at Euro NCAP, said: ‘The overuse of touchscreens is an industry-wide problem, with almost every vehicle-maker moving key controls onto central touchscreens, obliging drivers to take their eyes off the road and raising the risk of distraction crashes.

‘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.’

Mike Hawes, chief executive at the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the trade body representing auto makers, argues that safety is the ‘number-one priority’ for the car industry but car manufacturers each have their ‘own individual strategies for designing in-car controls’.

He also pointed to car makers upgrading to the latest voice-activation systems so that drivers do not need to take their eyes off the road for a second to make simple adjustments in their vehicles.

Commenting on the latest infotainment system in cars, industry analyst John Griffiths said: ‘Touchscreens and their ever-more excessive and labyrinthine menus make smartphone distraction minor in comparison.’