Mazda to remove touch screens from all new cars

The days for touch screens, the bane of fingerprint-averse drivers, are counted - at least if you’re a Mazda enthusiast. The Japanese carmaker has announced its new cars will no longer be equipped with touch screens.

At the launch of the new Mazda 3 in Los Angeles, Matthew Valbuena, R&D engineer at Mazda told New Daily that touch screens distract drivers from driving, as they require them to look at what they are pushing. Physical buttons, on the other hand, can often be used without looking. Combined with head-up displays, they make for a safer and more user-friendly solution.

Research Mazda has done confirmed drivers look away from the road for too long when they are using their touch screen. What’s even worse, they also tend to turn their steering wheel, added Mr Valbuena.

The Mazda 3 (pictured on top) is the first new car that will not have a touch screen, but all new Mazdas launched in the future won’t have one, either.

Few carmakers appear to agree with Mazda, as most are fitting ever larger touch screens into their car interior. The more extreme examples include Tesla, whose Model 3 did away with most physical buttons in favour of touch screen options that are indeed often buried deep in the menu hierarchy.

Pictured below: head-up display from Mercedes-Benz