Safety experts urge for cars to return to 'basics' following warning over 'deadly' high-tech features
Touchscreen dashboards and pop-out handles have sparked safety concerns for car experts
Safety experts are now urging for cars to get back to ‘basics’ after a warning was issued over potentially ‘deadly’ high-tech features.
While many modern conveniences are becoming the norm in the latest vehicle models, some fear this could end up being life-threatening.
This comes as car safety experts raise the alarm over certain high-tech features which could be putting you at risk on the road.
One feature that is sparking particular concern are touchscreen dashboards, which some fear could be creating a distraction for drivers.
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Speaking to the Daily Mail, Professor Milad Haghani, who is a car safety expert at the University of Melbourne, explained: “They require visual attention and demand glance durations often longer than safe thresholds. That long glance duration can be deadly.”
In similar news, one particularly concerning addition to some cars that is facing an industry-wide ban are pop-out handles, which is a key feature in Tesla models.
This comes after it was revealed by local reports that Chinese regulators are considering putting a ban in place against pop-out door handles.
This is due to concerns about safety issues and the failure rate of the function, but it would be a huge blow to Tesla as it is one of the EV manufacturing firm’s key features.
The potential new restriction will come into effect in July 2027 if it goes ahead, which will mean that all cars sold in the country will need to include mechanical handles.
It is not yet clear what Tesla’s approach would be but if the firm is to continue selling vehicles in China, it would mean a complete redesign of the handle.
This is something that might become a reality for the company as over a fifth of Tesla’s total revenue came from China in 2024.
The Tesla handles work by popping out when the car is unlocked and then retracting when you start to move the vehicle.
The look is certainly sleek and seems to be part of Elon Musk’s bid to give his EVs a ‘futuristic’ aesthetic.
However, it seems that concerns over safety could prevail over fashion as, according to a report by the Independent, data from one EV manufacturer showed how failures of the door handle design accounted for a whopping 12% of repairs.
This includes reports of people becoming stuck in their cars after the electric handles fail.
Some Tesla owners have also voiced complaints about the handles freezing in the winter, making it difficult to access their vehicles.