After last week's crush of future vehicle information, it wasn’t much of a surprise when this week's issue of Automotive News arrived with little in the way of new product info. The most informative article involved the upcoming Lexus LS 460, a car stuffed full of new and innovative technology. Unfortunately, the possibility of liability lawsuits will keep some of those technologies from U.S. spec cars. One such system attempts to reduce the severity of rear impact crashes by first flashing the hazard lights to warn the driver behind. If the rear radar still detects an imminent impact, it will then move the driver's headrest up against his head to reduce whiplash injury. Another similar accident detection system is used up front on U.S. models, but non-U.S. versions get an extra pair of radars with increased sensitivity.

Another article of note dealt with seats belts of the future, specifically a four-point system currently being tested by Ford. If the engineers in Dearborn can figure out how to make it safe for pregnant women, they expect it will become viable for regular production cars by 2010. They claim most drivers wouldn't mind using a four-point system as long as it's comfortable and easy to use. The idea behind four-point belts is better load distribution across the body during an accident.