Physical car buttons are safer and faster than using touch screens, study finds

Our future vehicles will have touch screen systems in the interior, but it seems that the physical buttons are still more efficient.

More and more car manufacturers are dispensing with the classic physical buttons to include touch screens that are apparently more efficient and safer, but according to a recent study it seems that continuing to bet on the physical buttons of a lifetime makes us better drivers.

And there is now evidence showing that the touch screens of these infotainment systems they are less safe and efficient than the usual buttonsaccording to the Swedish car magazine Vi Bilägare.

To prove it, they carried out tests on 12 car models, 11 modern ones with touch screens along with a classic 2005 Volvo with physical buttons. Drivers were told to drive around an empty runway and were timed to perform various infotainment tasks from adjusting the air conditioning to turning the radio on and off.

Interestingly it was seen that those people who were driving the 2005 Volvo with physical controls and buttons far surpassed modern cars equipped with touch screens being able to perform tasks much faster while driving.

Although it is not the most rigorous study in terms of sample size, it can invite us to some reflection.

While modern touchscreen entertainment systems give you so many more options, including technology like 360-degree cameras and advanced GPS navigation, buttons are still more intuitive given that they even allow users to press the appropriate option without having to take their eyes off the road.

Be that as it may, in the future all our vehicles will have eminently tactile controls, although certain physical buttons of a lifetime for certain tasks may still remain.