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

This should be made into two questions. I'm in favor of GPS in cars. I have a portable Magellan and it is mounted on top of the dash where it doesn't obstruct my view and yet it is high enough to not be a distraction as many in-dash factory-installed models are. My model has voice instructions (as many do)so I seldom have to look at the mapping.

A funny GPS story: I was in Phoenix and used the unit out there. When I got back to the East Coast, I wanted to visit a friend in Maryland. I keyed in his address without the antenna being up. The unit "thought" I was still in Phoenix and immediately the mapping came back with a travel route a distance of 2,332 miles!

The cell phone, on the other hand, is another matter. I will ANSWER my cell phone while driving, but I have yet to CALL anyone while driving. If alone, I'll find a safe place to pull over. If I have a passenger with me, I'll have that person make any outgoing calls.

Anything that can be a health or safety tool is a good thing.

GPS helps people get where they are going without having to risk their lives stopping to ask (possibly the wrong person) for directions.

Cell phones are necessary for emergency purposes.

Yes, there will always be the morons who abuse all conveniences. That doesn't justify taking them away from human people.

Dee

My opinion won't be popular with the "for" crowd because I am against GPS and cell phones in cars. Drivers do not need any distractions while driving. When I say distractions I mean only GPS and cell phones.

Drivers could be distracted by other things including chatting with a passenger in the car with them, their precious child in a car seat wailing at the top of its lungs or a pet meowing/barking/chirping or what ever.

more gadgets,yyeeeeesssss, cell phones are a nessesary option in cars nowdays should not be able to be used without a wireless ear piece that has voice dial, auto answer & auto hang up, make it law, GPS should be manditory in cars & cell phones, Personly I do not think this is a privacy issue at all, its all about staying alive,or getting the right help when in need, any person or persons that think other wise have no respect for their own well being or life, if you are doing something wrong, then you deserve to get gaught & serve what ever time is alotted to you. & probably more,

Whether you're holding it in your hand or have it strapped to your head, the cell phone is a distraction. Here in NY state it's illegal to use without a headset. The big problem here is that the police don't enforce the law. In fact most of the state troopers I see are busy themselves yapping on the cell phone while driving. Many times I've come close to being the victim in accidents caused by people talking on their cell phones. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that you can only concentrate on so many things at once. Of course the head of NASA might have a problem with that one. For you folks who insist on doing the dirty deed, a license to drive is a license to kill. We had a local man rearend a tow truck recently because he was talking on the cell phone. Fortunately no innocent people where killed.

My GPS, which announces the names of upcoming streets, has been most helpful to me. It certainly beats frantically looking for street signs which may be obscured by untrimmed trees. Too, the voice prompts allow me to focus on traffic rather than on frequent glances at a screen.

Cell phones should not be used while driving.

MizLoon

I used to think it outrageous to suggest banning cell phone use in cars.

Then I spent a few months walking around a major city, observing the stupid things people do once they place a cell phone against their ear.

These things appear to have the ability to suck the brains out of peoples heads.

I've watched people walk into other people, into poles, step out in front of moving automobiles...

So now this argument strikes me like the old argument against drinking and driving. Everybody thought they could safely drink and drive, that only 'other' people had problems.

I say let science answer the question just like drinking and driving.

If a large portion of the population cannot safely use a cell phone and drive at the same time, then ban it.

Your rights end where the risk to my life and limbs begin.

Or at least until cheap energy runs out. But since these gadgets are so firmly entrenched in the moment-by-moment lives of so many of us, I say let's make them as easy to use as possible without being distracting. Which to me means hands free and voice actuated.

Wouldn't a ban on holding ANYTHING longer than say 5 seconds make more sense than just banning technology? If I grab my cell phone, press a button & say a name to have it dial, & set it back down - I'm taking A hand off of the wheel for less time than it will take a smoker to light up or coffee drinker to take a swig from their mug that will block their line of sight momentarily or someone picking up fries/food & then make their wheel all greasy & harder to hold onto. Some headsets even allow you to make calls w/o touching your phone. If you drop a cigarette, you can burn yourself/objects; if you drop hot coffee/drink, you can burn your skin - both of these are much more dangerous than me potentially dropping my phone. I use my wireless headset while driving and am selective of only using it when traffic conditions allow. Besides, how is talking on the phone any different from talking to someone in the car? Isn't this just picking on those of us who drive alone? Anyone who has ever ridden with children knows how distracting they can be. Are we going to allow parents to duct tape kids mouths shut to prevent fights? On long drives, its helps to be able to talk with people to help from zoning out. The bottom line seems to be that people want to regulate common sense while driving, which is basically impossible. But if you want the road to be a safer place - I think the only way to do this is to install more technology, training & updates for drivers - 1. automatically add breath detectors to any vehicle where a person has gotten a DUI (and probably to every vehicle they own), 2. recommend insurance companies add the chip that allows tracking of driving habits to everyone who has had their license for less than 5 years - and require classes for those who's driving stats are lacking, 3. add the chip to people who get multiple tickets 4. have bulletin boards that remind people of traffic laws & other tips & 5. possibly making everyone retake and pass a driving test or at least the written test every 10-15 years.

Most of the posts I see make fun of the idea of banning cell phone useage while driving. But when I see a person at the wheel of one of these huge SUVS chatting away while making a left turn across traffic, it makes me absolutely crazy! You can't really pay close attention to two things at once, and concentrating on your conversation with this evening's date is hardly conducive to safe driving. Why not go all the way and legalize TV sets for the driver and front passengers?


The City of Chicago has banned non-hands-free cell phone useage while driving. Hooray! It won't stop every phone distracted driver, but the threat of a ticket is better than nothing.

Earlier this year there was a report from England claiming that driving while talking on a cell phone was the equivalent of driving while seriously drunk. Recently there was an episode of "Myth Busters" which supported this assertion. Both are the result of "Bad Science".

In both cases, the cell phone driver was using a hand held unit and being asked to do mental gymnastics while driving an obstacle course. This is ridiculous!

First off let me say that I might accept a ban on using a hand-held cell phone while driving. However, the idea that the act of having a NORMAL conversation during NORMAL driving substantially impairs the driver is just silly. Having something in your hand impairs you, be it a phone, or a drink. But having a normal conversation? Get real!

If, during the course of conversation driving conditions become severe the driver always has the option to simply stop talking/listening and concentrate on driving. If the topic of conversation becomes overly complicated, the driver can always find some place to pull over. A drunk driver cannot simply stop being drunk in response to driving conditions.

When I'm driving (using my Bluetooth headset) if something happens, like a deer on or near the road, I simply say "hold on" as I concentrate on what its doing and make sure I don't hit it. If I'm in the city and there is a lot of traffic, I can always say "I'll call you back". Dialing is not a problem either, I just push the button on my headset and say "Call John Doe" or "Call 8185551212" and it dials. Where's the impairment?

As a counter argument, I'd point out that when I'm driving cross country conversing on the phone helps me to stay awake and alert and avoid "Highway Hypnosis".

The English report and Myth Busters are just examples of Bad Science. Both show that you can pretty much "prove" anything if you setup unrealistic test conditions and then try to apply the results to general conditions.

If you want to require people to use hands-free phones when driving that makes sense, but an outright ban on cell phones is silly. If you're going to do that, we need to ban all conversations while driving - even with your passengers!

Are we going to let the control-everyones-lives freaks once again get away with using bad science to take away our freedoms? I hope not!

W

Well put, Quemann!

Having been hit by a distracted driver a number of years back, the statement made by the other driver to police was, " I was distracted by what my husband had said earlier that day" Therefore no gadgets required. You MUST be aware of every situation when behind the wheel period!

Cellphones only with handsfree, including voice dial capability.

GPS only if they can't be adjusted while driving.

Driving in this country has become very hazardous during the last ten years. Cell phones are by far the worse invention for drivers. No matter what the driver thinks, their driving is hampered by cell phone useage. Manufacturers are going out of their way to put every option possible inside the cab. Add food, drink etc. and you have the problem now facing all drivers. I drive an average of 25,000 miles per year and can usually tell a driver that is distracted. When you alert another driver of their behavior you are likely to get the bird, especially from women.