The texting while driving thread below reminds me of a burning question that I've been saving for the next time I bump into an officer of the law around here...

I DO NOT talk on the phone while driving without a hands free setup. I do not text while driving ever.

BUT my iPhone has replaced a map-in-the-lap when I need such things and I will pick up my phone that's sitting beside me, wake it and look at the map. I'm pretty sure this is not legal in California, but I still do it...

I don't have a GPS unit and I don't really want one. I don't want something telling me when to turn, i want to see a pulsing blue dot on a map.

what say you all?

>>i want to see a pulsing blue dot on a map.

how do you do that AND keep your eyes on the road?

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mattkime
>>i want to see a pulsing blue dot on a map.

how do you do that AND keep your eyes on the road?

the same way I read road signs while driving...

I'm pretty sure this is not legal in California

"You are correct, sir!"

CA CVC doesn't stipulate "phone", it says "electronic device".

You can use a dash mount, and then use the touch screen. But trying to read a map while driving is distracting, especially with a small screen. Still, legal, as long as you don't commit an infraction or worse.

I use a mount on the dash and on my bike when using Navigon. It allows me to see the road "ahead". I spend more time looking at my mirrors than at the 'Phone.

Factor nav systems usually have displays far lower than the top of the dash and the driver's normal line of site. I don't operate the 'Phone while moving. If I need to change the programming, I just pull over when it's convenient. (A fully functional Siri would be a great help here.

Also, I wear earbuds to hear news, traffic, or music, along with the GPS prompts. Illegal, too. However, the buds don't seal completely and block enough wind noise that I actually hear better than without them.

Still not legal.

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You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

-An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

There is no safety for honest men
except by believing all possible evil
of evil men.

Pixels were born to be punished. -Frederick Van Johnson

Mister, that's a ten-gallon hat on a twenty-gallon head.

I *love* Sigs. It's Glocks I hate.

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hal

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mattkime
>>i want to see a pulsing blue dot on a map.

how do you do that AND keep your eyes on the road?

the same way I read road signs while driving...

do you have to wake them up and look at them in your lap as well?

maybe you don't like turn by turn directions but its much safer and i think it might cost you $30 on the app store. awfully cheap insurance.

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I find that the iPhone is too small and requires too much attention to fiddle with safely while driving. Mine is in a dash mount and hooked into my car's built in hands free phone setup, but whenever I need to use it for navigation I generally pull over, wait for a stop light, or ask the passenger to do it. I then set up the nav app to give me turn by turn spoken directions so I don't have to fiddle with it any more. Using the built-in google maps app for navigation is not safe.

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"So be proud to be a decent American instead of just a w'anker whipping up fear!" - Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland

I use Navigon USA which is $30, I think, and MotionX GPS drive, which is 99¢ and $9.95 (for the time being) for a year's subscription to voice.

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You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

-An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

There is no safety for honest men
except by believing all possible evil
of evil men.

Pixels were born to be punished. -Frederick Van Johnson

Mister, that's a ten-gallon hat on a twenty-gallon head.

I *love* Sigs. It's Glocks I hate.

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hal
what say you all?

I say you need to put a GPS app with spoken turn-by-turn directions on your iPhone and get a proper mount for it.

I say you need to put a GPS app with spoken turn-by-turn directions on your iPhone and get a proper mount for it.

So say we all.

(Ok, maybe we don't all say that, but I love the phrase.)

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You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

-An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

There is no safety for honest men
except by believing all possible evil
of evil men.

Pixels were born to be punished. -Frederick Van Johnson

Mister, that's a ten-gallon hat on a twenty-gallon head.

I *love* Sigs. It's Glocks I hate.

so how are GPS legal?

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[www.giyf.com]

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decay
so how are GPS legal?

They are "legal" in the same way a map is. If you took out a map and put it in front of you while driving down the road, you could be ticketed for distracted driving. A passenger does it for you, and that does not happen. So, if you set up your GPS to give you directions to your next destination while stopped and off the road, no distracted driving. You do it while traveling down the road, then it is possible in many states to get that distracted driving ticket.

Sorry, I'd rather listen to a voice telling me to move into the right lane and glance at an already-open map mounted on the dash. I get plenty of warning. Plenty of time to get into position to make that turn. My peripheral vision will catch most of the action on the road.

I've tried to read the street names around that pulsing blue dot, to make sure I'm going to turn where I should. Not nearly as easy as using my iPhone Navigon app.

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Mr. Curmudgeon, on Mountain Lion.