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Banning GPS in your car


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Yes I saw that news clip too.. & that makes no sense at all!

 

Yes cell phones & Blackberries can be very distracting if used while driving, but a GPSr especially a "talking one" makes getting to a destination such a simple task. I'd think diligent use of a GPSr can probably aid in reducing accidents not increasing them

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Just listed to the 6:00 news. Seems our Premier Mr McQunity is considering banning the use of cell phones, PDAs, etc. in your car -(I'm in full agreement.)

 

BUT: He is also hinting at outlawing the use of a GPS in your car. :anibad:

 

What do you think??

I doubt the automobile manufactures would stand for that. That's a big sales item on the new cars.

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I believe I heard something about GPSrs that went to voice-only after ten MPH of speed. I have a friend with a Prius with a OEM GPSr built in and his works that way more or less and I also think my Nuvi has something like that as a selectable option.

Maybe your PM was hinting at mandating something like that rather than banning the units entirely.

I know that having a street-finder telling me when to turn, etc. makes me a safer driver as I don't have to gawk at street signs or house numbers while driving.

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Are they banning cell phones, or just holding them to your ear? CA is implementing a ban soon on using a cell phone without a handsfree device.

 

If the proposal is similar, then they'd probably only ban the UI of the GPS and probably while moving like the Toyotas already do. Personally I steered away from a Toyota during my last car purchase because of this. Also, you can google to find out how to disable this safety feature on the Lexus and Prius cars.

 

Also, the ban on cell phone use in CA is only for the driver - the passengers can use cell phones all they want. Similarly, if you have a front seat passenger then the passenger should be able to use the UI on any device in the car - the ban should only be on the driver (unlike the Toyota system which blocks use of the UI even if you have a front seat passenger to do it for you).

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I just moved to Ontariario from Labrador.

Cellphones were banned when driving there and I wholeheartedly agree with that idea. Even though it was impossible to get nailed for it because when you get to court how do they prove you were actually using it because they would have to get records from the phone company and maybe the phone companies records were off in their timing or not synched with the polices' watch etc etc. However having said all that, cellphones DO contribute to some pretty awful driving. I'm guilty. The solution is simple, get a cell with a speakerphone or a headset.

A friend of mine drives a train and he likes to tell the story of the veterinarian that he hit with a train. Vet was on the cell and was completely oblivious to a TRAIN. He didn't get hurt, but the front of the train was plastered with bandages etc.. :laughing:

 

As far as GPS it can be a bit of a distraction but so can Bill Lear's invention of a car radio. They were banned at one point in some places.

I personally love my Nuvi.

Just for the record, car rentals have the worst accident record in the first mile or so of the rental, because everyone is trying to read the map and drive. Better by far to have a GPS. Keeps peace in the family.

 

BTW flarbar, what is a UI ?

Edited by frozenflyboy
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While at it, they should also consider banning the following when driving: Eating or drinking, reading, shaving, putting on makeup, dressing, talking to passengers, disciplining children, sleeping, smoking, adjusting the radio, changing CDs/cassette tapes, sight seeing, sneezing, blowing your nose, animals in the car, and anything else which might distract the driver from the road.

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Cell phones were banned here in NJ. I have seen more drivers using them now,than before the bann. :laughing:

 

I guess the kicker is that even though they probably can't nail you for using them due to technicalities, pity help you if you are in an accident with one pasted to your ear. Also eventually the police will probably come up with a scanner to detect usage in a car, then they could nail you.

There was a study done by an American University on the airlines where they determined that virtually every flight on a air carrier, there were some clowns using one despite the unlawfullness and some idiots were even using them right through the takeoff and landing.

Maybe if the FAA got involved and by use of a scanner of some sort determined your cell usage and allowed you the pleasure of a fine unbeknownst to the cell user. Fines for things in the ("Aeronautic Act" is what it is called in Canada) are not the pithy little fees for speeding tickets. They start around a thousand dollars I believe. Expensive phone call! 10 cents a minute $1000.00 per call. Similar to the system on the highway where speeders and red light runners are photographed by cameras on the highway and their license plates scanned for the purpose of fines. Police can drive through a parking lot with a scanner looking for stolen cars. Big Bro is watching.

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Actually the latest Aerospatiale I think it's the 388 has a system on board that allows you to use cellphones on board. So the theory goes but a lot of people in the know are not happy because the system works well in theory....

The way the theory goes is that when a cell looks for a tower it sends out a strong signal if it detects that the tower is distant. The AS engineers have put some kind of device on the airliner that acts like a tower so the cell thinks it is close and it transmits at a lower power. Therefore the theory is that that since the cells are transmitting on low power they will not affect the navigation systems, however if there are cells that are old or faulty or damaged they may transmit high power anyways or their signals may not be accurate and may be broadcasting on several frequencies etc. so that their total wattage etc may jam the GPS navigation on board the aircraft, then the theories break down and the aircraft will not be able to navigate by GPS due to interference.

This of course would affect your GPS if someone close by was talking while using the GPS. Assuming the worst case scenario.

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While at it, they should also consider banning the following when driving: Eating or drinking, reading, shaving, putting on makeup, dressing, talking to passengers, disciplining children, sleeping, smoking, adjusting the radio, changing CDs/cassette tapes, sight seeing, sneezing, blowing your nose, animals in the car, and anything else which might distract the driver from the road.

 

Thank you .. you saved me the trouble of typing it. I'm afraid some won't see the sarcasm in your post, though.

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Actually the latest Aerospatiale I think it's the 388 has a system on board that allows you to use cellphones on board. So the theory goes but a lot of people in the know are not happy because the system works well in theory....

The way the theory goes is that when a cell looks for a tower it sends out a strong signal if it detects that the tower is distant. The AS engineers have put some kind of device on the airliner that acts like a tower so the cell thinks it is close and it transmits at a lower power. Therefore the theory is that that since the cells are transmitting on low power they will not affect the navigation systems, however if there are cells that are old or faulty or damaged they may transmit high power anyways or their signals may not be accurate and may be broadcasting on several frequencies etc. so that their total wattage etc may jam the GPS navigation on board the aircraft, then the theories break down and the aircraft will not be able to navigate by GPS due to interference.

This of course would affect your GPS if someone close by was talking while using the GPS. Assuming the worst case scenario.

 

I for one don't really want to be a passenger on any aircraft that can have it's navigation system fouled up by someone intentionally or un-intentionally using a cell phone or any other electronic device. If one inside can mess things up couldn't one outside near by do the same? Many airports have roads right off the end of the runway that "gasp" people might be using cell phones on when a plane is at that critical take off or landing stage. Maybe there ought to be a little more scrutiny on the reliability of avionics.

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If they are going to ban all distractions such as GPSr's, then they might as well go the whole way and ban talking to passengers, looking at the dash or changing the radio station!

 

Actually, now that I think about it - the drivers now are distracted arguing about this very issue. A more permanent solution- ban politicians :anibad:

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I for one don't really want to be a passenger on any aircraft that can have it's navigation system fouled up by someone intentionally or un-intentionally using a cell phone or any other electronic device. If one inside can mess things up couldn't one outside near by do the same? Many airports have roads right off the end of the runway that "gasp" people might be using cell phones on when a plane is at that critical take off or landing stage. Maybe there ought to be a little more scrutiny on the reliability of avionics.

 

trooperdjb,

GPS is not used during the actual landing or take-off phase which is when an exterior influence such as a person on the ground would possibly be close enough to cause problems. It is the cumulative effect of many passengers using cells that is the problem because they are in such close proximity to the aircraft antennae. Also anyone on the ground would only be close for a split second while the plane whisked by even if there were enough people to cause a problem.

As far as the possibility than someone might intentionally foul up the GPS, I'm not interested in going there. I am assuming that jamming the signal would be something that the GPS unit would be able to detect and a red flag would show up on the panel so that aircrew would know to overshoot and or use another approach system on the aircraft. GPS are generally used for point to point navigation but are in the early stages of being used to do approaches.

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I guess the kicker is that even though they probably can't nail you for using them due to technicalities, pity help you if you are in an accident with one pasted to your ear. Also eventually the police will probably come up with a scanner to detect usage in a car, then they could nail you.

I can think of a few dozen things I'd rather the police be doing with their time, rather than playing "phone patrol".

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between McGuinty and miller. I figure everything will be banned in toronto within a couple more years. everyone will have to move out as breathing will be banned. well moving will probably be banned too though.

 

I wonder what ever happend to the sushi ban from 1-2 years ago one of them was trying to get :unsure::blink:

 

all I can say is I'm glad I'm not in ontario, and I will not set foot there anytime soon.

Edited by Smac999
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between McGuinty and miller. I figure everything will be banned in toronto within a couple more years. everyone will have to move out as breathing will be banned. well moving will probably be banned too though.

 

I wonder what ever happend to the sushi ban from 1-2 years ago one of them was trying to get :unsure::blink:

 

all I can say is I'm glad I'm not in ontario, and I will not set foot there anytime soon.

 

 

LOL. Well, I am glad to hear that the US doesn't corner the market on idiots. We have more and more who want to breech our "unalienable rights given by our Creator." They believe these rights are granted by the government.

Edited by themeecer
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No Matter what anyone thinks, cell phones, GPS units, Radios, talking to passengers...etc, All have the same effect...They take your attention from the road, and slow your reaction time..

I think any use of above should be treated in the same manner as Drunk Driving, since they are essentially the same thing...

 

Dark.

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It's not the use of cellphones--or eating, or talking to passengers, or poking a finger at a touch screen--that is dangerous. The problem comes when any activity becomes more important and takes of the driver's attention than the activity of actually piloting the vehicle.

 

I watched a woman get in a crash because she was in stop-n-go traffic and digging through her purse at the same time. She didn't see the car in front stop because her nose was in the purse.

 

It's the same for any activity. With that said, it does seem as though a cellphone, for whatever reason, consumes a lot more of a driver's attention than a lot of other stuff. I've been almost hit by a person on a cellphone because she forget to a little thing like make sure the lane she was trying to occupy was clear. I've sat for a couple of minutes behind some dude at a stop sign who was more intent on finishing his phone conversation than driving. Apparently he couldn't do both so he simply didn't drive and held the rest of us up.

 

I've heard comments on this issue on radio talk shows where on guy would say something to the effect of "I drove from Miami to New York and was on the phone almost the whole time. I didn't have a problem." My thoughts were "yeah, maybe you didn't have a problem, but what about the folks around you. That and you probably wasn't paying enough attention to notice the problems."

 

Anyway, I recently got a new Nuvi 750. Pretty cool little toy. Distracting, too. I probably should turn the safe mode back on...

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It's not the use of cellphones--or eating, or talking to passengers, or poking a finger at a touch screen--that is dangerous. The problem comes when any activity becomes more important and takes of the driver's attention than the activity of actually piloting the vehicle.

 

I watched a woman get in a crash because she was in stop-n-go traffic and digging through her purse at the same time. She didn't see the car in front stop because her nose was in the purse.

 

It's the same for any activity. With that said, it does seem as though a cellphone, for whatever reason, consumes a lot more of a driver's attention than a lot of other stuff. I've been almost hit by a person on a cellphone because she forget to a little thing like make sure the lane she was trying to occupy was clear. I've sat for a couple of minutes behind some dude at a stop sign who was more intent on finishing his phone conversation than driving. Apparently he couldn't do both so he simply didn't drive and held the rest of us up.

 

I've heard comments on this issue on radio talk shows where on guy would say something to the effect of "I drove from Miami to New York and was on the phone almost the whole time. I didn't have a problem." My thoughts were "yeah, maybe you didn't have a problem, but what about the folks around you. That and you probably wasn't paying enough attention to notice the problems."

 

Anyway, I recently got a new Nuvi 750. Pretty cool little toy. Distracting, too. I probably should turn the safe mode back on...

 

While it maybe true that talking, tapping a touch screen or eating while driveing is distracting, it is never the less not nessary for big brother to ban it. The police can in fact deal with a distracted driver on a case by case bases. They are laws already in force in all 50 states that deal with distracted driving. Further more that is the only correct way to deal with these kinds of things in the U.S. I know that I have driven since cell phones have been availiable and talked and have never had a close call and everybody I have ever known has never had a close call while driving and talking. I try to use a headset, but don't always. Also there is no proof that cell phones cause traffic accdents or planes to fall out of the sky or GPS'es to cause accendents all it is about is more big brother government control freaks jerking there own chains. I guess some of you think that guns kill people too don't you. That is what we get with goverment education. :wub::) Or maybe I just listen to Neal Bortz to much. :rolleyes: I also wonder if the U.S.constution would illegelize any of this insane nonsense. Not that it would matter anyway.

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i guess it's just the way things are going nowadays, especialy in england, health and safety is all anyone in power thinks of,

 

it seems there are loads of people employed to go through lists of accidents, and as soon as they find more than one cause that was the same, they have to invent some legistation to get what ever caused the accident banned.

 

i had an accident a couple of years ago, i had a mobile phone in it's hands free kit, my pda runnning it's gps proggy on the dash, the radio playing, my girlfriend talking to me and petting my dog in the back,

 

yet none of them caused the accident, i was distracted by another accident that had just happened on the opposite caridgeway,

i know i should have ignored it and concentrated on driving my own vehicle,

but it's hard to not be distracted by 3 vehicles slamming into each other by the side of you and one of them heading for the crash barrier and almost over it into my caridgeway.

 

i was distracted for a few seconds, but that was enough time for the people in front of me to decide to stop dead and block the road,

 

so surely accidents need banning then??

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I guess the kicker is that even though they probably can't nail you for using them due to technicalities, pity help you if you are in an accident with one pasted to your ear. Also eventually the police will probably come up with a scanner to detect usage in a car, then they could nail you.

I can think of a few dozen things I'd rather the police be doing with their time, rather than playing "phone patrol".

The Police are not obligated to ticket infraction offenders. The phone law can be used as a tool to pull over suspects of other crimes the police may want to pull over and have no other reason to do so other than because the driver is illegally using a phone; don't have his/her seat belt on; car has a busted tail light; etc...

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I guess the kicker is that even though they probably can't nail you for using them due to technicalities, pity help you if you are in an accident with one pasted to your ear. Also eventually the police will probably come up with a scanner to detect usage in a car, then they could nail you.

I can think of a few dozen things I'd rather the police be doing with their time, rather than playing "phone patrol".

The Police are not obligated to ticket infraction offenders. The phone law can be used as a tool to pull over suspects of other crimes the police may want to pull over and have no other reason to do so other than because the driver is illegally using a phone; don't have his/her seat belt on; car has a busted tail light; etc...

 

This is nothing more than a incredibly stupid, ignorant excuse for more insanely stupid legislation by the American brain dead politbroro. There is no real reason for it, I worked within the law enforcement community for 20 years as a non-certified officer, most real cops that I worked with thought that this kind law was stupid and unnessary. If people would try taking responsibilty for there own actions and decisions instead of trying to blame something else or someone else for there mistakes then this issue would not have become a problem. I see FHP and local police driveing and talking on there cell phones all of the time here in Florida. It's not as big of a problem as a lot of people have made it out to be ,it's another one of those imaginary problems that people that don't have a life need. I personaly belive in and use a headset or my speaker, and wish more people would do the same. We have way to many laws in this country and most of them are unconstitutional we don't need more. Most adults are very aware of what's safe and what's not safe if they CHOOSE to ignore the risk then if something happens it is there problem and they will have to pay the price whatever that price may be, it is wrong to make everybody pay the price for a minority, so why do we need some bum in Washington or our state that will never obey there own laws to tell us,,, we are not children. This is Democracy at work and Democracy is not what America is supposed to be about. Anybody else want to get me started about politics??? :):):) Everybody THINK FREEDOM, NOT Government. Government is the problem, not the soulition. Never has been and never will be.

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i was distracted for a few seconds, but that was enough time for the people in front of me to decide to stop dead and block the road,

 

 

So the cause of the accident was???

 

Other than being distracted....one word, tailgaiting!

Nothin personnel gazz, but tailgaiting is a peeve of mine. Other than lack of driving skill, it's the biggest cause of most accidents that are blamed on other things like distractions, speed, visability, etc.

I realize in the city it'd be next to impossible to not tailgait because there's always some moron reday to squeeze in though.

 

Hands free cell phones are another peeve of mine. They really prove nothing because it only takes one hand to drive but it also takes one brain. It really doesn't matter if a person is holding a cell phone or not. The conversation is what distracts the brain.

 

I think of all these "ban" laws just like seatbelt laws. They're not for safety, they are solely for revenue collection.

Edited by 1stwarrior95
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trooperdjb,

GPS is not used during the actual landing or take-off phase which is when an exterior influence such as a person on the ground would possibly be close enough to cause problems. It is the cumulative effect of many passengers using cells that is the problem because they are in such close proximity to the aircraft antennae. Also anyone on the ground would only be close for a split second while the plane whisked by even if there were enough people to cause a problem.

As far as the possibility than someone might intentionally foul up the GPS, I'm not interested in going there. I am assuming that jamming the signal would be something that the GPS unit would be able to detect and a red flag would show up on the panel so that aircrew would know to overshoot and or use another approach system on the aircraft. GPS are generally used for point to point navigation but are in the early stages of being used to do approaches.

 

Sorry that was the somewhat sarcastic me replying. But honestly if a CD player or GPS or even a cell phone can cause a problem somebody has some splainin to do. We all live in a world very rich in EM radiation so our toys and tools need to take that into account.

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i was distracted for a few seconds, but that was enough time for the people in front of me to decide to stop dead and block the road,

 

 

So the cause of the accident was???

 

Other than being distracted....one word, tailgaiting!

Nothin personnel gazz, but tailgaiting is a peeve of mine. Other than lack of driving skill, it's the biggest cause of most accidents that are blamed on other things like distractions, speed, visability, etc.

I realize in the city it'd be next to impossible to not tailgait because there's always some moron reday to squeeze in though.

 

Hands free cell phones are another peeve of mine. They really prove nothing because it only takes one hand to drive but it also takes one brain. It really doesn't matter if a person is holding a cell phone or not. The conversation is what distracts the brain.

 

 

I think of all these "ban" laws just like seatbelt laws. They're not for safety, they are solely for revenue collection.

 

And AMEN to that preach on. :):):)

Edited by Team Wolf Clan
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And AMEN to that preach on. :):):)

 

Oh man, my age must be showin.....I've never been accused of preachin before! LOL

Usually it's rantin or b!tchin....Hahaha

 

;);):)

Nottin wrong with a good preach now in den.... Dat's what other folks sez.... Me I ain't never done it b'fore.... :):)

Preach it brother!!! :D

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our dumb leader is at it again.

 

distraction from passenger(s) account for the highest automobile accident. even more than drinking and driving.

heck, there must be more things on the road that is way more distracting than a gps.

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