Car Tech forum: Are you for or against GPS and cell phones in cars?

Learning to drive. We all started the same way. It was our first time in traffic. There were no distractions except a nervous adult sitting next to us. We were in the middle of an intersection waiting for traffic to clear so we could make a left turn. Then, the light turned red. Do we turn, back up, or just put the car in park, get out and resign ourselves to a life of public transportation? We had that one task to perform, single focus, and it seemed so hard.

Fast forward a decade or more later. Again, we are in the middle of an intersection making the left turn except now we are drinking coffee with one hand, turning the wheel with the other, pushing the HD radio volume button on the steering wheel with a finger on the driving hand and telling a caller (while in hands free mode) to hold on while we yell out the window to our kid to be home in time for dinner, while one foot pushes the gas and the other lets out the clutch, and our GPS is telling us to turn left in 15 feet while our gas gauge just flashed on and displayed how many miles are left before empty. "We've come a long way, baby."

I'll give away my age here, but thinking about all these simultaneous distractions reminds me of the performer on Ed Sullivan's TV show who spun plates on top of long sticks. He kept setting up spinning sticks/plates on the table until ... one fell. We have added our own sticks/plates to our cars in the form of conveniences. We added them, one at a time until collectively, we have realized, "Houston, we have a problem."

There is a finite end to our ability to manage distractions. And most likely some of us can handle multiple distractions well, while others don't get much past just learning to make that left turn. So, do we dumb down to the lowest common denominator, i.e., no phones, no GPS, no DVD's in the back seats, no connectors or broadcasters for our iPods?

I think we have crossed the line already and we can't/won't go back. We have all these things now, and whether we are geeks distracted by toys, mobile warriors getting crackberry fixes while the guy in traffic next to us is reading the paper WHILE DRIVING, or the woman driving next to us applies makeup while in cruise control, we allow ourselves to be distracted from the job of aiming a 2000+ lb. car going 60 mph without hitting another car, or worse, a pedestrian.

Certainly, as an evolved culture we handle more distractions than ever before while keeping a focus. And some people are in the 99th percentile and they can do it all at the same time. The problem is the people who can't, may find out they can't, the hard way. I read an article some years ago from Northwestern University's Safety Institute that said the better drivers have lower IQ's. The higher IQ'ed people make driving an intellectual event. They think about turning the car left and then turn the steering wheel to the left. They build in a "think about it step" that adds just an extra moment to acting and that can make the difference between a hit or a miss. The lower IQ's learn by rote and they become the steering wheel and brake. They see a problem ahead and their response is instantaneous, no thinking, just reacting. To me this means that the number of distractions that we think we can handle is inversely related to our ability to handle them.

We might need these gadgets, but no one will force limits on us. There won't be insurance tests to tell us how many distractions we can safely handle. There won't be limiters in the car to prevent us from rolling down the window while we make a left turn while we adjust the seat. Our cell phones won't automatically shut off when deers run in front of the car.

But, after the fact, there will be police investigations to discover whether we were on the cell phones or sending text messages when we plowed into the back of a garbage truck. And there will likely be little black boxes that will record what buttons we were pushing to program our GPS' when our car sideswiped the mailbox. That is reality. We will not limit ourselves before the fact. We cannot and will not do it. After the fact, lawyers and police will find ways to amass evidence to prove that we were distracted just before our accidents. It will be the first thing they look for.

Maybe one day, there will solid evidence that talking to our spouses after work is distracting and that it is the cause of such a high number of accidents that we will be prevented from calling or answering calls from our spouses during specific hours, unless we are stopped or connected through 911. Someone will collect that data and use it to smack us with another reminder that these gadgets create safety, convenience and a more enjoyable ride, except when all of them are used at the same time.

JAFUNE

I believe it is foolish to drive and talk on a cell phone or operate a GPS system while driving. It makes you a menace to yourself and other drivers to perform any action which detracts from your attention to driving.
It takes very little time to pull to the side of the road, activate your emergency flashers and make a phone call or check your GPS location. Even a hands free voice activated system distracts you. Having a conversation on the phone takes away from concentration on your driving. Any other method is irresponsible in the extreme.

I happen to think cell phones are a safety feature for women driving alone. Also spoken GPS directions are certainly safer than consulting paper maps while driving to find out whether the next exit is to the left or to the right.

There is one other issue that has made me mad. Is the driving while intoxicated. IF a person is found to be intoxicated they should loose their license. They should be allowed one DUII Take multiple classes and go to a treatment center for 30 days. As well as a 10.000.00 dollar fine and all hospital bills if they hit someone. As well as property damages. If they get a second DUII. They need to lose their license permanently. If they get caught driving after that then it is prison for a year. After all what prison are the people they hit living in.
Thanks

IF the on-dash maps & installed phones do what they're supposed to do, you'll have fewer distracted drivers. Like everyone else, I multi-task. I am a mom, so I don't have much choice. BUT, I make sure one hand & one eye are ALWAYS on the road. Now if they'd hard-wire a baby mirror, I wouldn't have to referee the back seat so much!
Not overly thrilled with the GPS; it does NOT always know the best route or even have better directions. I rely on my internal GPS more. It is a nice tool, but just that; a tool. It's all in how you use whatever tools you have for the job at hand.

I live 45 minutes away, if I travel by Interstate, from my place of employment. Driver In Command was absolutely correct. Every motorist has an obligation not only to self and his/her tribe, but to the other motorists' person, property and tribe, to operate their vehicles in a safe manner. Yammering on cell phones and fiddling with hi-tech devices while driving are unsafe practices that in the best-case scenario annoy motorists who aren't so engaged, and in the worst-case scenario endanger lives. And let's not forget the dashboard DVD players...

You've got your blowhards doing 40 MPH in a passing lane who won't move over because they're trying to make a point, either to the person they're calling, or to the other motorists, or both. In that category you've got your Paris Hilton-types, soccer moms, business folks who conduct commerce from their cars, playa-playas, and folks who are just giddy about the idea that you don't have to stop at a gas station phone booth anymore. They are so distracted by the conversation that they pay no heed to the flow of traffic, and demonstrate a complete lack of regard for other motorists. While you're running your mouth, you're hindering me from getting to work on time, and your lack of attentiveness to the road endangers lives and personal property. What could you possibly have to say to anyone that would justify that?

Then you have your truckers, like FedEx, which routinely employ dual 53-foot trailers and often are no respecters of lanes, so they're already dangerous, especially in the winter, when there's ice and/or snow on the road. The same applies to those trucks that transport cars to dealerships. They're all over the road, and no one likes to drive behind them -- just in case. Add GPS and cell phones to that equation. I'm aware of fatality cases between truckers and passenger vehicles because the operators of the trucks were inattentive and distracted by gizmos. They had to shut the highway down, which impeded my ability to get to work, and messed up a whole bunch of road trips, I'm sure.

"Hands free" or bluetooth is only a half-answer. I'm old-school, so forgive me if I don't understand why people suddenly talk so damned much, all the time. But if you must for whatever reason, please go to the right and allow me to pass. Or better yet, pull over. I know you're ballin' and all that, but why do so at the expense of *my* time and/or safety?

i think that eventually driving while operating pretty much anything will be possible becuase i have an acura tl and in my car i could pretty much control any function in my phone and the navigatigation system with my voice. i once used dragon software a whie ago to control my computer and its typing, well it was horrible i thought they would never get anything like that right. But with the ability of speech recognition right now the future will only bring better and easier to use devices in the car.

What's next? Tracking devices in our heads? I have disabled GSP on my phone. I DO NOT want it in may car! I don't need big brother tracking my every movement. Of course big bro is most likely monitoring this email as well.

Personally, I would like to see a device in cars that prohibits cell phones from working while the vehicle is in motion. I don't agree with the response that just because some people can do something they shouldn't be punished because there are others that can't. It has to be all or nothing. I have been in several close calls because someone was talking on their cell phone and not paying attention to their driving. Nobody NEEDS to be in instant communication 24/7, but talking on the cell phone isn't the worst thing people do. People are text messaging while driving and that is totally distractive. If you need to talk to someone, park your car and talk. When you are driving, drive.

Here in the UK the new laws re mobile phones mean a person would be foolish to use a phone without a handsfree kit in their car, so is the acceptable (just) alternative. I rarely make calls on the move but quite happy to receive them. if the call requires a high degree of concentration the sensible thing is to pull over or call back at a more appropriate time. Yes, I know that maybe naive but people are in charge of their own destiny, so it's up to them.

With GPS, My view is it does make driving safer. Given the route is planned prior to the trip, how often do you have to look at the receiver be it on the mobile or a separate unit? I listen for the verbal instructions usually and very rarely look at it. The alternative are maps and written route instructions which one would have to keep stopping to look at (hopefully) and/or keep a look out for route signs. Yes I know that's what has been around for years but the technology does make driving easier, doesn't it?

If the route has to be amended, yet again the sensible thing would be to stop. Gps definitely safer if used properly, but there again it's up to the common sense of the individual.

As cars become cleverer, e.g. the Lexus that keeps in lane on cruise control, the 'passengers' have got to have something to do!

I'm against cell phones in cars, really if your driving a car you should have your cell phone switched off. Even with a hands free kit or speakerphone you still have to use your hands to answer the call or make a call.

As for GPS systems, they can be quite handy and make it a bit more safer to drive as it saves you going round a city thinking is this the road I turn down and causing a queue of traffic behind you whilst you look for that hidden road that was on your map but not actually there, and then going past it and having to do a U-turn to get back. The only time that GPS is unsafe is when you do exactly what it's telling you without checking that it's safe to do this first. I've been in a friends car a number of times and he drives very aggressively and has nearly hit a few cars due to his GPS, when the GPS tells him to keep right or keep left he just moves straight over into that lane without first checking his mirrors assumming the GPS knows what car is in that lane, maybe to make them safer they need to put infra-red detectors on the side of the car so the GPS knows when to tell the driver to keep left or when the driver ignores the keep left/right command to not keep repeating it as often.

In response to the post that you need to use your hands to use the cell phone whether or not you have a hands-free device, you can set up your phone to automatically answer calls that come in when you have have your hands-free set attached.

If you install a blue-tooth capable GPS device, you can also use it in tandem with your cell phone for voice activated dialing and as a speakerphone as well.

If you use all the technology available to you, there is no longer a need to pick up your phone while you are driving.

It is too bad more people don't take advantage of this technology instead of driving one-handed with their cell phone glued to their ear.

While Stero listening is basically pasive and requires only our hearing sense, Radio programs normally requires a little more active attention, but it is still at the limit of the acceptable After all, we all have our internal "conversation flow" and we have learnt to live (and drive) with it, albeit it is also a source for "distraction" for the driver.

But when it comes to GPS as a visual aid, although it has the merit of helping us to find the right way and also to be prepared in advance for a highway exit, for example, it requires looking at a small screen and this forces our eyes out from the road, sometimes for several seconds.

In my opinion, it is a dangerous device when made directly available to the driver. In the same way that TV screens are strictly prohibited for drivers, but can be installed in rear seats, the GPS screens should not be visible from the driver seat.

I used to use a cell phone in the car on a regular basis but finally two accidents caused me to cease using it at least for conversations more than a few words. Also my voice mail now says if I am driving I will not answer the call. The Discovery channel had a show on called Mythbusters. Basically they drove a course with stops, turns etc w/o using a cell phone, then they drove it using a cell phone, and then under supervision of police they drank until their Blood alcohol levels read .08. The findings were that they made more mistakes using the cell phone than when intoxicated. They ran more stop signs and were unable to stop quickly enough to avoid unexpected hazards. Using the cell phone is not the same as listening to the radio. The radio is not interactive whereas the cell phone is. It does not matter whether it is cordless or night. It is the interactivity that is the problem. GPS devices, I will wait to comment on.