Really? All new cars seem to have heating controls on a touchscreen. Are you sure you aren't thinking of something else, like the regulations against the use of mobile phones while driving? (Even that is allowed so long as it's on a mount.)
I've driven like 5 modern rental cars in the last year and none of them locked out the touch screen while driving, and most needed the touch screen to change the temperature controls
What about Teslas? I know they're in the UK because I saw them there and they have many controls on the touch screen and almost no physical controls. How does that work?
I'm in the UK and my touch screen works fine at any speed. Anecdotes are kinda pointless unless you say what kind of car you have. Mine is a 2020 Volvo XC60.
Basically every Japanese infotainment has this feature too. There's a "car is in motion" input cable that you are not to snip off. It's not rare to find that wire severed, eh good enough effort on manufacturer's end.
It's also software implemented. The screen works, just the apps on it grey out buttons while in motion. You can e.g. switch to radio, change volume, but not search or set destination.
My Seic MG4 has volume +/- physical buttons under the touch screen as well as the usual steering wheel controls but all air conn controls are on the touch screen which works at any speed.
Quite a lot of the safety features rely on the Android tablet embedded in the dash. When you restart it (long press home button) quite a worrying number of warnings pop up on the display behind the steering wheel!
My Renault Megane e-Tech has physical controls for just about everything needed, but regardless it also has a voice interface, so I can tell it to adjust the AC or turn off the seat heater etc without taking my eyes off the road.
Physical controls were a must when getting a new car, but I find myself using voice a lot, especially in traffic.
