Heads-up technology puts data on car windshields at CES

A drawing of a dashboard and windshield as designed by engineers at Visteon. (Handout/Courtesy of Visteon)

One of the automotive world’s newest, buzziest upgrades was once offered only for trained jet pilots: heads-up displays, projecting a buffet of colorful information on that once-sacred place of clarity, the car windshield.

Touted at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show, the icon-rich displays have been installed by carmakers and tech startups as showcases for details on speed, directions, even cellphone notifications like text messages and Facebook alerts.

Carmakers argue the displays are a safeguard against fumbling with smartphones and other distractions. But safety advocates say the gadgets actually make the problem worse, by diverting drivers’ attention from the road ahead. And as carmakers compete for increasingly tech-minded buyers, some worry the displays will lead to even more dangerous roads.

“The manufacturers of these heads-up displays, none of them have said that any of their…