Emmerson Cattich | Opinion Editor
October 3, 2024
In recent years, cars have evolved quickly. From large touch screens taking up the dashboard to voice assistants and self-driving features, it would be easy to say that the future is now for vehicles. Yet, as nice as these features sound, they are becoming increasingly unnecessary, prone to breaking, and unreliable. So while it would be untrue to say that cars have gotten worse, I believe they have gotten dumber.
Remember the PRNDL stick? Well, new cars have decided to do away with it, the main reason being it is not seen as necessary anymore. Additionally, a big stick in the front of the car does not fit the new sleek, modern look car manufacturers are searching for. Junior Grace Owens says this is one of her least favorite parts of driving her mom’s Tesla because she has to either use the touchscreen or the paddles on the steering wheel, which is much more time-consuming than “using the stick” in her own 2016 Toyota Prius.
New technology being time-consuming to use is a common issue, specifically the reliance on large touchscreens. Many complain that instead of being able to turn a knob to turn down air conditioning or turn up music, they now have to navigate through multiple menus and take their eyes off the road for at least 10 seconds to do so. Therefore, how is this new technology “innovative” if it’s just making our distracted driving issue even worse?
Beyond being unnecessary and time-consuming, many of the features are more prone to breaking and malfunctioning. Gavin Audet had just gotten a brand new 2024 Toyota Tundra and unfortunately ended up backing into another car in a small parking lot. His issue with this was that although his car beeps at him for seemingly everything, there was “no beep” as he was about to hit another car.
With these cars being packed with new features, the price tag continues to go up, which poses the question: what are we even paying for? To be distracted and frustrated all while these expensive features don’t even work? These cars can be marketed as “smart” and of “the future” all they want, but nothing will be as smart as the cars of the past that just kept things simple.
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