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

Cell phones-NO-(emergency or stopped vehicle use only)- The research data is unambiguous and there is no rational denial that cell phone use in any manner while driving significantly increases risk of injury and death. Personal convenience is a poor excuse to create that avoidable risk for yourself and others.

GPS systems should be limited to audible (passive) use only while the vehicle is in motion, and not visible to or usable by (entering data) to the active driver.

I'm against GPS in cars.

Let's start with GPS. I love it; absolutely incredible and dramatically safer than NOT having GPS. I presume, of course, that one has programmed the destination BEFORE you start your trip. From then on you don't even have to look at it very often (or ever, if it speaks to you). I suppose the wow factor happens from having been in the Navy where inertial navigation was the big thing but horrible compared to GPS. Is it a distraction? Not for me, in fact, it is the opposite of distraction -- I can DRIVE and watch for other drivers, knowing that the GPS will alert me when it is time to turn or exit. Since the GPS tells me in advance whether I will be exiting from the right or the left side, I can gradually get into the proper lane from which to make an exit. Compare this to people who suddenly must cross four lanes of traffic to get to an exit that is on the "wrong" side of the freeway.

Cellphones: I do not try to initiate calls on a cellphone while I am moving. I am not one to get many calls. If I am cruising across Nevada I'll take calls and listen to XM radio. In town I do not listen to the radio and only rarely take calls. Sometimes I'll listen to traffic radio to learn about accidents before I get there, in which case GPS helps me around the accident.

Someone suggested "pulling off and asking directions." Yeah, do that in Nevada. Your next direction-giver is 90 miles away and he might be on vacation. Good luck getting directions. A year or so ago I was on a business trip and chose a scenic route home. It was fun, but put me in Hawthorne, Nevada at 1 a.m. -- it was GPS that got me there and found a hotel for me. THANK YOU, Garmin!

They have their uses.
The controls should only be able to be used when the vehicle is stationary.
Blue tooth devices for phones make it easier to answer the phone etc.
safely used I am in favor. As usual it is the inconsiderate stupid users that create the problems.

I live in a country where kids,parents , even grandparents are possessed by their cellphone demons to the point where I have to act as a cellphone Nazi in my teaching classes and remove 2-3 cellphone per week from abusers. When I begin my commutes to and from home to work, I am regularly assaulted by, penned in and often cutoff by cellphone wielding drivers (of both genders) who are so oblivious to their surroundings that they risk my life and theirs (and often their unsecured offspring)while gaily crossing lanes, swerving abruptly, floating down the fastlane at 50km/hr., staring off into the distance engaged in a hearty chat with God knows who...all the time ignoring the essential requirements for safe and defensive driving.
Hands free phones are still a distraction, tuning the radio is a distraction, adjusting the mirror is a distraction....driving safely is a full-time occupation and that is why driving instructors tell you to adjust mirrors, radios, seatbelts, etc.....before you drive off. I have been involved in a few fender benders caused by other drivers who were focussed in cellphoneland and never realized they were too close to my rear bumper, pulling into a passing lane that was already occupied or partially so, needing to brake slowly and all this without, of course signalling in a timely and visible manner...because their hands(and brains) were tied up elsewhere.
Cellphones and DVD players, and IPods etc. are wonderful when you are walking or supine or seated but have no place in a drivers repetoire.
Recent research by the DMV in NYC indicate that there has been a 30% rise since 1999 in non-fatal, non DUI accidents just involving drivers distracted by cellphone usage! As well, the American Psychological Association strongly discourages drivers using anything extraneous while driving, including eating, drinking and cellchatting, based on their research showing a significant decline in attention and alertness of drivers using these things. The reaction time of an average adult male/female is insufficient to prevent an accident past 40 mph even when they are fully alert and have both hands on the wheel...add in distractions and you have a receipe for disaster. Add in underage and youthful drivers (using cells, etc.)and whose judgement is already questionable (on occasion)and the scale of the disaster is geometrically increased.
The human mind and its neurological parameters are not well designed for multitasking at high speeds and when manouvering a 1 ton vehicule around equally menacing and speedy objects. Lets legislate cells and other serious distractions out of the fastlane and into the offramp where they belong.

Yes, I also can fly an airplane and drive a car. But the two aren't even close. In an airplane, you not only have the inherent stability of the plane while you're attending to other things, but you have much more leeway both vertically and horizontally. Have you ever attempted to stay within a 10-foot lane on approach? Betcha can't even come close. Have you ever attempted to land in formation with another plane on either side? Neither do you have another plane just seconds in front of you. I find it much more relaxing to fly than drive because the maneuvering envelope is so much larger. The response time required, except on an occasional hairy landing, is also much greater.

In driving, you're very frequently only feet and fractions of a second from disaster. This isn't even considering the other and unpredictable drivers closeby.

In short, the multitasking required in flying an airplane is nowhere comparable to the ill-advised multitasking which some drivers attempt, all too frequently with disastrous consequences.

Operating an automobile is a full time job. The sooner drivers, and regulators, become aware of this, the sooner the monstrous death rate will drop.

Radio and stereo constitute only minor, and manageable, distractions. The part of the brain involved in their operation, especially with wheel-mounted controls, is only minor and easily shut off when circumstances require. Voice-prompt GPS is only slightly more taxing. Cell phone and text messaging require much higher level brain activity. I used a cell phone only once when driving (in an emergency) and found it so distracting that, had circumstances permitted, I would have parked to complete the conversation. Frankly, I'd feel safer driving half-drunk than when carrying on a cell phone conversation. I no longer do either.

As for the GPS; Partly it's the "Big Brother" thing. I don't necessarily want somebody to be able to track my every move. However, it is a great tool for emergency personell to render aid if need be. Do we really want to trade privacy for security? Is it possible to have it both ways, I wonder. Surely there is technolgy available that would allow the owner to activate GPS either manually or by default in the event of an accident. Passenger air bags can be turned off or on, why not GPS.
Cell phones are a whole different story. A cell phone should never be in use while the car is in motion. The only exception would be to call 9-1-1 if some fool is endangering you or your passengers. There should be a sensor within the phone that would only allow calls to
9-1-1 while in motion (over 3 m.p.h.). If you are to busy to pull over and stop to use your cell then you are to busy to be driving.

The car cell phone would give police a signal to activate a car's airbags (for your own protection, of course). This would be useful during car chases: a fleeing suspect's airbags could be activated so he could crash without death and the escape from the legal system's tortures that death would bring.

The cup holder is a good example. In an ideal world there would be no impulse available to the driver but the road ahead. No stereo, no cell, no IPod, no food.

In an ideal world also no screaming children (behind a sound free barrier), the most dangerous distraction in a car, and no talking with passengers. The latter has nearly been my downfall several times.

Cups of anything are banned in Europe. Getting caught with a milkshake is a hefty fine and an insurance increase.



In the real world, however, and in the multi tasking US people are used to and will use cell phones, even computers while driving. Therefor I would vote for improved, hands off, voice activated cell phones in US cars. A sinner myself, I would support astronomical fines for anyone caughte with the phone in hand, but nobody's asked me to vote on it yet.

Men aren't much better. Driving slow in the left lane to yack on the phone about NOTHING. Driving with one hand while turning corners!

Geez.. Most people can't drive well with two hands and there they are gabbing away.

There's a rash of serious accidents where nobody can figure out how it happened.. like crossing the merideans. Well, guess what.. CELL PHONE!

We're all in trouble!

How often am I driving in my city (Portland, OR, U.S.A.) when I see an obstacle? Something that is preventing all drivers from driving safely to their destinations? I see it daily, everyone, and I always love hearing the argument that "talking on my cell phone doesn't make me a lesser driver". It does if you can't turn a corner at a speed slower than a single mile per hour. It does if you are driving over the center dividing lines into traffic, whether travelling the opposite direction or next to you on a one way street. Hey, you cut me off! Oh, I'm sorry...I didn't realize you were on your phone. MY MISTAKE. Had you signalled your intention, I would have KNOWN you were trying to drive into me, since you "have to take this call". You're dialing your phone while driving 55 on a freeway? Citizens arrest, please. Having a deep conversation while the light turns green, you finally accelerate 8 seconds after our GO signal was shown? People like those I've mentioned are why I would sign a petition to BAN cell phone usage in moving vehicles. I hate the concept of banning ANYTHING, but if that's what it takes for people to DO THE RIGHT THING, ban it! If you need to use your phone, pull over. Don't make driving unsafe for all of the rest of us just because you're rude and can't multi-task safely. If you were meant to be talking on the phone while driving, it would be called something other than DRIVING. The cell phone belongs in the car for a single reason ; emergencies.

All this talk against gadgets is nonsense. The larger percentage of accidents are actually caused by rubbernecking... people simply paying attention to something outside of the car and I don't mean the car in front of them, either. Granted there are people who shouldn't have anything inside of their car to distract them, but most people can handle it. We've had many accidents before cell phones and will continue to have many accidents. Gadgets are new so everybody is blaming it on them and totally forgetting that accidents will always be around while you have humans driving. Let's face it, we are the problem not some silly gadget. As some of you have mentioned, a second or third person in the car can be very distracting; having a car full of kids is extremely distracting; eating while you are driving is very distracting; finding the right kind of music on your radio or changing CDs is also very distracting. Are we going to forbid all of that? Hey you also better not scratch your head or any other part of your body, because this too may cause an accident since you are momentarily distracted. I think women putting on make-up and men shaving while driving is a lot worse than somebody talking on the phone or listening to some directions from their GPS. I say hurray for any and all improvements that auto makers can make. We spend a lot of time in our cars so let's make it as comfortable as possible (without falling asleep)

Against

There is that certain percentage of people who simply *cannot* ignore a cell phone, who must reset the equalizer for every song, who have to continuously interact with the navigator or gps or check their email or text or whatever regardless of the traffic or the environment in which they are driving (or eating in, or socializing in, etc). I don't think that hands-free makes any difference to these folks. All their attention is absorbed by gadgets whenever possible. I don't want my privileges taken away due to the irresponsibility of the few, but that seems to be the way it is going.

I belive that the cell phone use in the car should be limited to hands-free only. That includes dialing. It should be voice command. The GPS in the car should be manitory. I continue to see people make quick u-turns and cut other drives of because of missed turns.