Automotive & mobility
Quiet by default: A design perspective on the modern car cabin
Date
Scope
Automotive HMI
Overview
A design perspective on why the touchscreen-first car cabin has become a safety issue, and what to do about it. Drawing on crash data, regulatory testing and consumer research across multiple markets, the report argues that in a moving car engagement is a cost, not an objective, and sets out six evidence-based rules for a cabin that stays "quiet by default". It lands as three EU changes reprice cabin design through 2026: Euro NCAP physical-control requirements, mandatory driver-distraction warning, and software brought under strict product liability.
Key findings
In a Swedish cabin-task test at 110 km/h, a 2005 car with physical buttons beat modern touchscreen cars by 1,100 metres of travel on the simplest controls.
Interacting with an in-car touchscreen is associated with roughly 4.6 times higher crash and near-crash odds (Virginia Tech); AAA found none of 30 tested infotainment systems produced low cognitive demand.
From 2026, EU rules change the stakes: Euro NCAP physical-control points, the GSR2 driver-distraction warning mandate, and the Product Liability Directive treating in-vehicle software as a product.
Six observable, testable design rules for a calm cabin, plus the procurement questions HMI buyers will be asking.
