Technology in a car can do one of two things.  Technological innovations that improve a car’s safety, maneuverability, and ability to predict and react to danger decrease the likelihood that the car will be in an accident and minimize the threat to its passengers if it is.  Technological innovations that can distract the driver – such as social media plugins and entertainment features – increase the risk of a crash. Mechanical safety features are already figured into the math that insurers use to define premiums, since those features influence the risk associated with insuring a particular…

Toyota’s 2010 Prius is getting a new speaker system upgrade – under the hood, to ensure that the car makes enough noise to alert pedestrians to its presence. Apparently, the cars are now too quiet, and there is a general concern that this might pose a danger to those on foot. There’s no word yet on whether an optional smoke stack can be added to the engine to combat the fact that the Prius doesn’t spit out enough pollution. The speaker system is an optional upgrade currently available in Japan only. Toyota is undecided whether to begin offering the option in North America, worried perhaps that North…