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Technology

Driven to distraction by your own vehicle

By Paul Marks

25 October 2006

Sitting behind the wheel these days can feel more like being in an aircraft cockpit, such is the proliferation of warning systems, head-up displays and automated controls. Vehicle makers are increasingly fitting such systems in a bid to reduce accidents by improving driver awareness of other vehicles and pedestrians, and keeping their eyes on the road.

However, while the aim of adding sensors and ever more powerful on-board computers may be to improve road safety, critics fear that each new warning or information system provides an additional distraction for drivers whose attention to the road is already dangerously compromised by…

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