Driving a rental? Don't set off without looking at the touchscreen

The days of switches and buttons in cars are over. In modern cars everything from the navigation system and the radio to the air conditioning and the windshield wipers is controlled using a touchscreen.

That brings convenience but also new controls to master. Unfamiliar traffic and road conditions can require a lot of attention, particularly when you’re driving in another country. Add in controls that you haven’t used before and the risk of an accident increases.

For that reason, Dekra, a vehicle testing organisation in Germany, is calling on all anyone renting a car during a summer break to first get to know the controls before driving.

The experts advise that you take a few minutes when picking up a rental vehicle to get an overview of how the touchscreen operates.

Before setting off, you should do things like set the radio station you want, program the navigation system and pair your smartphone. If further settings are required during the journey, it’s safer to stop to make them.

"Because the touchscreen lacks haptic feedback, the distraction time can increase because you usually have to look for longer," explains Thomas Wagner, traffic psychologist at Dekra.

Tests by Dekra found that operating safety-relevant functions such as windshield wipers or dipped headlights in modern vehicles is significantly more time-consuming than it was in older cars with manual controls. In some cases, it takes more than twice as long.

Older people in particular can find it difficult to use touchscreens. People who wear reading glasses can also have issues. Without glasses, they may find it hard to recognize the controls on the touchscreen, while with glasses on their vision out the windscreen is limited at greater distances.