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Politician's Free Time

thcri

Gone But Not Forgotten
Flipping through the radio stations on the way home I caught the tail end of a new bill that some politician is trying to get in. Don't know the name but like I said the tail end of the story.

Anyway some person thinks that radios, Ipods, GPS, cell phones are a major distraction to a driver and are to outlawed? Like I said I only caught the tail end of the story so if someone else is aware of this story please add here.

I don't think politicians have enough to do?

If true I really don't think it would ever go through in my book.

murph
 
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Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
murph, I've got no idea about the specific bill you are referring to, however many areas have restrictions on electronic devices.

It is currently illegal to watch TV/videos in the front seat of the car when it is in gear, but it is easy to buy video players that replace your dashboard radio and the screens fold away when not in use.

Also several areas (Chicago is one of them) have outlawed the use of cell phones while driving. The only way to use a phone is if you have a "car kit" that operates your phone in hands free mode, or if you have an ear piece and microphone so you can operate the car with both hands on the wheel.

I'm not sure, but I think in Indiana it is illegal to wear "headphones" while driving if they cover both of your ears. The logic being that you can't hear the sounds of traffic, car horns, etc if you have headphones on. I would have to guess that 'earbuds' like you'd wear with an iPod or MP3 player would be considered headphones.

I will admit that I consider them a distraction and I have a bluetooth handsfree kit in my car that mutes my radio and automatically answers my phone when a call comes in, the call is then routed through my car stereo and plays over my speakers, a microphone on the dashboard picks up my voice and a screen on my dashboard displays the incoming caller ID information. I absolutely HATE driving while holding a phone and think it is dangerous. It makes me nuts to get stuck behind people in traffic who are so entranced with their phone conversations that they ignore all the traffic around them and create a hazardous situation. I see it every day and really would love to see Indiana pass a law similar to the Chicago cell phone law.

I have a built in navigation system in my Touareg and love it. It is mounted high on the dash but built in. I also have a Magellan Color Meridian GPS with a car mount kit that I can put in my other cars, but I find that it always ends up mounted too low and I have to take my eyes off the road for too long of a time to use it effectively. It leads to a lot of swerving! The only logical place to mount it is on the top of the dash so it does not cover any gauges, however the sun can 'wash out' the screen image making nearly useless and the size of the GPS can block my view of traffic so I consider them far less than ideal.
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
B_Skurka said:
murph,

I will admit that I consider them a distraction and I have a bluetooth handsfree kit in my car that mutes my radio and automatically answers my phone when a call comes in, the call is then routed through my car stereo and plays over my speakers, a microphone on the dashboard picks up my voice and a screen on my dashboard displays the incoming caller ID information. I absolutely HATE driving while holding a phone and think it is dangerous.

Wow Bob, you have all the gadgets! :eek: :thumb:

I haven't heard about the law murph mentioned but I did hear about a study showing that a cell phone, any cell phone use while driving (hand held or hands free) distracted drivers equally. They went on to say that hands free might be a tad safer, but the 'tad' (not their word, mine) was not measurable.

I agree with Bob that talking and driving is distracting, hands free or not.
 

Junkman

Extra Super Moderator
Doc said:
I agree with Bob that talking and driving is distracting, hands free or not.

Does that include talking to passengers and especially the wife??????? :whistle:
 
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