If your throat is sore from shouting at your kids in the back seat to sit down/stop punching each other/act like civilized human beings, Toyota has a solution.
The company recently announced that the 2015 Sienna vans will feature Driver Easy Speak, which will amplify the driver's voice into speakers in the back seat. That way, you can kindly remind your children that you can turn this car around without having to strain your voice. The best part of the system is it doesn't work both ways, so your kids can mumble all they want and you won't hear it. For those who want to have an eagle eye on the back seat, there's also the optional "pull-down conversation mirror," which allows the driver to see what's going on in the back without having to turn around.
As minivan sales decline, Toyota is hoping these new features will cause parents to run down to their nearest dealership. "I think they're on the right lines of trying to find these features that people are going to talk about," Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst at Edmunds.com, told The Associated Press.