Are car touchscreens making New Jersey roads more dangerous?

Maybe my old cars were right all along. My last three vehicles — a 2003 Mustang, a 2007 Honda CR-V and my current 2015 CR-V — all came with something that increasingly feels like a lost art: physical knobs and buttons. Turn the volume up. Twist the temperature dial. Hit a preset. Done. Eyes back on the road. Simple.

Most of my friends think I'm behind the times. They've got the big glossy touchscreens, the ones that look like someone bolted an iPad to the dashboard. They love them. Every time I get in one of their cars I feel like I need a tutorial just to change the station. I've never been sold.

Turns out, the science is starting to back up my old-school instincts — and Jersey drivers stuck in traffic on the Parkway or the AC Expressway might want to pay attention.

Car touchscreens are distracting drivers — and the data is alarming

A new study out of the University of Washington and Toyota Research Institute found that interacting with in-car touchscreens reduced pointing accuracy and speed by more than 58 percent compared to non-driving conditions, while lane deviation increased by over 40 percent once touchscreen interaction was introduced. 

And it's not just about glancing at a screen for a second. A study by the AAA Foundation found that drivers navigating through in-car screens to program navigation apps and other features were visually and mentally distracted for an average of 40 seconds — enough time for a car traveling at 50 mph to cover half a mile. On 287 at rush hour, that's a recipe for disaster.

A survey of 92,000 U.S. car buyers found that infotainment systems generate more complaints in the first 90 days of ownership than any other vehicle system, with drivers reporting frustration over basic controls — lights, wipers, temperature — now requiring multiple steps and visual attention to operate while driving. 

ALSO READ: Loud motorcycles and cars are driving NJ residents crazy 

Automakers are quietly admitting the screens went too far

Hyundai is publicly reversing course, with its design chief admitting the company was lured in by the "wow" factor of massive all-in-one screens — only to discover through focus groups that people get stressed and frustrated when they can't control something quickly. The company is now bringing physical buttons and knobs back across its new vehicle lineup. Porsche and Volkswagen are among other major brands making the same move. 

As one popular car reviewer put it: "The irony is that everyone basically accepts that it's dangerous to use your phone while driving — yet no one complains about what we're doing instead, which is fundamentally using an iPad while driving." 

Europe is making physical controls a safety requirement

Starting in 2026, the European New Car Assessment Program will only award its top five-star safety rating to new vehicles that use physical buttons and knobs for commonly used driving features like turn signals, windshield wipers, and horns. American regulators haven't gone that far yet — but the pressure is clearly building. New Jersey, a state that already has some of the toughest hands-free driving laws in the country, may not be far behind.

The top 10 biggest distractions behind the wheel

In-dash screens are just one piece of a much bigger problem. Here's how the distractions stack up, from most to least dangerous: texting while driving, talking on a handheld phone, adjusting GPS or navigation, in-car touchscreen systems, talking to passengers, eating and drinking, fiddling with music or radio controls, daydreaming or zoning out, grooming, and rubbernecking at accidents — something Jersey drivers have essentially turned into a spectator sport.

Texting still sits alone at the top. But touchscreen infotainment systems are now firmly in the conversation — and unlike your phone, nobody's running a public awareness campaign telling you to put the dashboard down.

As for me, I'll stick with my knobs. For GPS I use my phone on a hands-free mount. For music, I've got presets. For temperature, there's a dial. It's not fancy. But I've never once had to go three menus deep to turn on the heat — and I've never drifted out of my lane trying to find the defrost button somewhere between the Wi-Fi settings and the massage seat controls.

Now excuse me while I crank the car radio....with that big knob right in the middle of the dash!