Beware The Law Of Unintended Consequences

An Oxford Prof is suggesting "vibrating seatbelts" might help prevent car accidents by giving drivers more warning of impending danger:

Multiple warning signals - including vibrating seatbelts and directed alarms - could prevent one in seven road crashes, research has found.

A study using simulators discovered these fittings could help drivers brake faster and reduce rear-end collisions by 60 per cent.

Prof Charles Spence, of Oxford University's Department of Experimental Psychology, will present the findings at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society in York today.

He said: "Multi-sensory warning signals appear to capture driver attention far more effectively than more traditional warning signals that stimulate only one sense, such as the driver's eyes or ears."

Citroen and Jaguar already sell cars that can vibrate the seat to rouse sleepy drivers.

What I want to know is whether the research has taken into account the drivers who would deliberately get into such situations just to get the magic seatbelt treatment. After all, I've known guys who let the restaurant page them two or three times with the vibrating pocket-buddy before they saunter up to the desk.