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Road Safety Experts Criticise New Toyota
Mon, 12 Sep 2011

The new Toyota Yaris has come under fire from safety experts for including technology that lets drivers’ text while on the move.

The car, which was recently unveiled as part of Toyota’s range of clean new models at the Frankfurt Motor Show, is the first car in the UK that enables motorists to send texts while driving .

Rival models allow owners to reply to messages with preset responses, such as ‘Driving now, will reply later’.

However, Toyota have gone one step further with their latest Yaris as it lets users type and send unique messages via a Touch and Go multimedia screen – even when the car is moving.

The new technology, which will be fitted to other Toyota models as they’re replaced, is legal as mobile phone laws only relate to hand-held devices.

But Andrew Howard, head of road safety at the AA, argued that the system could be a potentially dangerous distraction for motorists.

He said people will "feel pressured to reply to texts and not watch the road", adding that that owners "risk falling foul of dangerous driving laws" if not in proper control of the car .

A spokesman for Toyota responded by explaining that the "user has to be responsible for their actions," and claiming it was "arguably more dangerous" for drivers to text using a mobile on their lap.
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