[piotrkaminski]

> if you want to reverse the car, you have to use on-screen controls!

So? If you're switching to reverse then by definition you're stopped (or nearly so) and can afford to take your eyes off the road. The control is no further than most cars' center tunnel-mounted gear levers. Plus it only has the two common drive/reverse settings accessible via the swiping action, rather than all the rarely-used options. (Do you know how many times I've shifted into Neutral or Low by mistake in an unfamiliar car...?)

What exactly is the risk?

[culopatin]

That you can still look at your surroundings with the stalk and keep a tab on what people around you are doing. Without the stalk someone can walk into a blind spot and you didn’t catch them because you were finding reverse on the screen. The person next to you is getting ready to open their door. Or simply you want to make a 3 point turn quickly without being stopped in the middle of the street fiddling with a screen