From touchscreen consoles to hidden door handles, most new cars today are packed with high-tech features. While these futuristic tools might make you feel like James Bond, car experts are now warning that many of them can prove deadly. Among these are the trendy pop-out handles, which are feared to trap passengers inside the car after a crash. Touchscreen “infotainment” dashboards have also come under fire, as growing evidence shows they’re a dangerous distraction. Unlike a physical switch or knob, a screen creates distraction by forcing drivers to divert their eyes from the road. A recent study showed that drivers’ reaction times worsened by over 50% when they had to use a touchscreen interface. Safety experts say the solution to these problems is to go back to traditional buttons and door handles. In fact, there’s a growing body of evidence to show that consumers don’t want complicated features on their cars and prefer going back to the way things were before technology.
