IE makes no apology for saying this; modern in-car touchscreens are a total menace. They are dangerous, even more dangerous than using your smartphone because at least you know where the buttons and apps are on your home screen. Scrolling complex, often counter-intuitive, menus at speed, whilst driving in motorway traffic is a huge risk and insurers need to campaign to force manufacturers to go back to simple dash/wheel mounted buttons for many typical functions.
Here’s some feedback from ALA Insurance, who have surveyed 2K UK drivers.
Large iPad-like screens, barely a button or knob in sight. It might look impressive, but did anyone actually sign up for removing all hands-on controls, even for basic functions?
Compared to physical buttons and dials that can be felt for and used by touch from muscle memory, a touchscreen has no tactile feedback or distinct ridges to guide you which means looking down becomes almost unavoidable.
According to a survey of 2,000 Brits by ALA Insurance, more than two-thirds (68.3%) reported that modern car technology has made driving feel more frustrating rather than more convenient.
Of these, 36.9% said they experience frustration often, while 31.4% said they experience it sometimes.
When asked which modern car feature they found most frustrating, 35% of Brits picked either touchscreen controls replacing physical buttons (15.2%) or overly complex dashboard and infotainment screens (19.8%).
For all the clever tech, sometimes a button or dial is still the better option
Simon England, founder of ALA Insurance, commented, “Innovation is supposed to make driving feel more seamless, and in many ways it has. There are plenty of clever features in modern cars that we’d miss if we went back to a 2010 or 11 plate.”
“The irony is that some of these new features make simple things harder than they used to be,” he explained. “When an older model feels more instinctive for something as basic as changing the volume or adjusting the heating, something has gone wrong.”
In the 2026 BYD Seal, for example, changing the temperature means swiping up on the touchscreen to bring up the climate controls, then tapping or swiping through various options rather than simply reaching for a dial.
And in Tesla’s own manual, it warns drivers to avoid using the touchscreen while driving, meaning the multiple taps needed to adjust the climate and temperature controls could be deemed a distraction when in motion.
Why are the basics such a faff?
“Most people aren’t against new technology; they just want the things they use most to be easy to reach and distinguish, not hidden behind multiple screens,” said Simon.
He added that “sometimes a button or dial makes more sense, because you can feel for it without needing to look down.”
ALA Insurance also revealed the features Brits wanted to see return to modern cars, with simple controls that don’t require looking away from the road by far the most popular choice, selected by 32% of respondents.
This was followed by technology that assists without taking over (15.7%), more driver control over automated systems (14.8%) and fewer intrusive warnings and alerts (14.5%).
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