The article talks about how innovations in car control designs are making it harder for drivers to know what to do when a situation becomes dire.
My favorite quote: "The Toyotas and BMWs use a console shifter that the driver slides sideways and forward for reverse or over and backward for drive. Mercedes has a device that looks like a turn signal stalk on the right side of the steering column that the driver lifts for reverse or presses downward for drive."
Seriously? I obviously don't make enough money to afford these cars because my gear shift is still the same old 'backwards to pick 'Drive' and forwards to park' idea.
This reminds me of those issues they were having with pilots flying airplanes which had controls which functioned in the complete opposite way from the aircraft they had been flying for years. Suddenly, pulling back makes you go down instead of up--can you imagine the accidents? Apparently the FAA didn't and because of that some people did die because the pilot panicked and did what he instinctively knew how to do--only in that plane that was the wrong direction to go in.
Wonder how long these 'innovative gear shifts' will last...
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