Nissan has utilized a Victorian-era technology to tackle a 21st century problem: distracted driving duo to the use smartphones behind the wheel. The Nissan Signal Shield Concept, implemented on a Juke test car, uses a Faraday cage in the armrest to block out all cellular, wifi, and Bluetooth signals. 

It’s a neat idea, but as you have already guessed it is useless unless the driver willingly put his or her phone in the compartment. And they have that kind of will power they would text or tinder or whatever while they are driving.

That said, Nissan Signal Shield is a little bit more sophisticated: “If drivers want to listen to music or podcasts stored on their smartphone, they can still connect to the car’s entertainment system via the USB or auxiliary ports. The device will maintain wired connectivity even when in the Nissan Signal Shield compartment. To restore the phone’s wireless connections, drivers just need to open the arm rest to reveal the compartment – which can be done without taking eyes off the road or touching the phone itself – and the phone can reconnect with the mobile network and the car’s Bluetooth system.”