Turning up the heat. Clearing a misted windscreen. Changing radio station. In an older car, each took a glance and a twist of a knob. In many new cars, they now mean a trip through the touchscreen, with your eyes off the road while you do it.

The test

Swedish magazine Vi Bilägare measured the cost. Drivers took each car around a closed airfield at 110 km/h, the same limit as our M1 and M2, and completed four everyday tasks: adjusting the climate, changing the radio station, resetting the trip computer and dimming the dashboard. The magazine recorded how far each car travelled before the driver was done.

In 2022, a 2005 Volvo V70 with nothing but buttons finished in 10 seconds and 306 metres. The worst new car, the MG Marvel R, took 44.6 seconds and 1,372 metres. That is well over a kilometre at motorway speed with the driver's attention split between the road and a screen.

Getting worse, not better

The magazine repeated the test this July with ten new cars. The average distance rose from 756 metres in 2022 to 813 metres. At 110 km/h a car covers more than 30 metres every second, so even two extra seconds is a long way to travel half-distracted.

Some results stood out. The new Mercedes CLA took 35 seconds, 15 seconds slower than the model it replaces, and its screen needed 19 seconds to respond after the car was unlocked. In the Toyota Corolla Cross, just finding the dashboard brightness setting took 580 metres.

The worst culprits are functions buried several menus deep and software that lags. A well-laid-out screen can be quick. A badly designed one turns a two-second job into a 30-second distraction.

The rule-makers agree

Since January 2026, Euro NCAP has rewarded cars with physical controls for the indicators, hazard lights, horn, wipers and emergency call when awarding its top safety ratings. China is set to require physical controls for core functions on new cars from 1 July 2027. With Chinese brands now common in our showrooms, that will shape the cars Mauritians drive.

Test it before you buy

When you view a car, sit in it with the engine running and try to demist the windscreen, change the radio station and dim the screen for night driving. If any of it means hunting through menus, picture doing it on the motorway in heavy rain. Whatever you drive, set your music, navigation and climate before you pull away.

AtAutoCloud.mu, you can browse new and used vehicles across the island and shortlist the ones that suit you. When you go to view them, treat the dashboard as part of the inspection. A car is only as safe as the seconds it lets you keep your eyes on the road.