And you guys in the US think you have it tough...

It was bound to happen, Hope it doesn't become a trend!

Governments only get away with their garbage because the people let them, get enough people at their meetings and they'll listen. Like you I could live with the cell phone ban, from my experiences around here they are a major distraction.

I can see banning cell phone use (other than hands free) and text messaging (which caused a train crash when engineer was doing that in California). So I do have a BlueTooth headset for Chicago (which can fine you for handheld cellphone).

But a GPS is much safer than trying to flip and fold over a large map between state (or province) side and local city area side while driving.

My only mistake was leaving my gps on Pedestrian mode which kept telling me to get off at the next exit, until I realized my ETA was way too many hours.

That's what happens when people vote for idiots,
it's done all the time, look at what people are trying to do here in the states!

When you go into the voting booth and you close the curtain or what ever method of privacy you have, think real hard before you pull the handle, poke the chad or use the touch screen. Because you have no one looking and you can actually vote for who you want and not feel you have to buckle to peer pressure.

One last note: if you don't vote, you have nothing to say at all, Period. But when you do, remember the things that matter to you, and vote for them, take the time to study the issues as well as candidates, generally they are printed in the paper before hand, just don't be suckered by the papers persuasive vote choices.

I hear ya, but the problem that has many people disillusioned with voting is that politicians say what you want to hear to get your vote and then ( California being the exception ) are guaranteed 4 yrs of employment regardless of what they do. Usually what they've promised is far from what they'll do for the next 4 yrs.

I won't add to the thread about voting because that doesn't solve the issue that may be at hand if the election occurs after the law changes. Citizens in Ontario need to stand up and show that banning use of a GPS by just the driver is a very bad idea, One might argue that this action could possibly decrease safety. Programming a GPS, no, but using one? Just plain moronic.

An inquiry to the car dealers that sell cars with the GPS installed to see if they are aware of this would be a good start. I'm sure they'll just love needing to tell their prospective customers about this great feature the car comes equipped with, but is illegal to operate if you are driving alone... Then maybe contacting companies which have drivers using GPS to find their customers. I'm sure the major and minor delivery companies will welcome with open arms losing this tool which saves them a lot of time & money...

Intelligent activism usually overcomes ignorant politicians unless they are backed by deep pocketed special interests. I don't see that here; Just the opposite. Large services like UPS, FedEx, etc., could be these deep pockets if they aware of the threat.

If Ontario succeeds in banning single user GPS operation, it won't be long before this latest safety-nazi virus starts pooping up all over the continent.

Since we're on the subject of things that take our attention from driving....what about food and drinks?

I was driving back from work through a rural one-way road a few days ago, and noticed the car in front of me drifting off the lane, then slowing down, then speeding again. After some time, there was a line of cars behind me stuck after this person. When I was able to safely pass, I looked what was going on. A teenage girl had a cell phone on the left hand, and an ice-cream cone on the right! She was steering and holding the ice-cream with the same hand. Now try to imagine what was happening every time she wanted to lick the ice-cream! That's unbelievable!!

That's a tough break

This is pretty sad.

My wife is from Canada, and we both think you have a little more freedoms here in the US (although they are rapidly disappearing).

Most provinces ban radar detectors, etc.

People eat, put on makeup, and do gawd knows what else while they're driving, and I don't see politicians clamoring to come up with laws banning those things.

Although people are apt to complain about cell phone use in cars, I have not seen any good scientific studies yet correlating cell phone use and an increase in accidents.

It's just common sense that things that distract you from driving can cause accidents, whether it's getting too involved in conversation (even with passengers), playing with GPS settings, concentrating on tuning the radio, lighting a cigarette, or other things drivers do in cars.

A cell phone, a GPS, or a myriad of things can be distracting if someone uses them the wrong way or concentrates on these other things too much while they're driving.

What politicians can not legislate against are people doing stupid things while they are driving.

When I lived in Montana you were actually permitted to drink and drive there, as long as you weren't over the legal limit.

Politicians like to keep making laws to protect us against ourselves because they think we are too stupid to think for ourselves.

Pretty soon we'll be in a position like government employees coming in our houses to make sure we have a non-slip bath mat so we don't fall and hurt ourselves. If we don't they'll fine us and make us buy them.

The whole thing of elected officials policing us is getting kind of sick.

It was a good thing that I was never caught with my map placed on the steering wheel in my pre-GPS days, eh?

Now some people are trying to ban all cell phone use, including with hands-free devices, showing some studies that they are just as distracting.

Personally, the biggest obstacle I've had with driving while using cell phone is NOT engaging in conversation. It's having to hold the bleeding handset against my head, thereby limiting my ability to look around.

Or worse yet, to shift.

They need to ban radios, stick shifts, and those annoying gauges that show your speed and RPM too. Way too much distraction in the car.

Ya, basically they should just ban everything that takes away from your attention to driving.

I swear the worst culprit I've seen so far was a guy on the 401 (a major highway) shaving with an electric razor, writing in a crossword book and driving with his knees, in rush hour traffic!

If people would just use (not so) common sense, they wouldn't need most of these laws and warnings like "Contents Hot" etc.

http://www.wheels.ca/article/436489

http://webx.newswire.ca/click/?id=994051b90aec5c7

I have seen drivers playing a guitar, flossing with both hands, a lady putting on panty hose and some things you can't mention, but the strangest yet I was aproaching a small van truck from the left lane and I noticed the person on the left had a pillow and his head resting on the side window. As I was passing I seen a woman sitting next to the sleeping man holding the steering wheel.

These articles clarify things somewhat. Dash mounted GPS would still be allowed. Not as bad as it was made out to be originally.

I still don't know about cellphones. I don't think hand-held phones should be banned until further studies are made. Preliminary reports show "hands-free" calling is as distracting to the driver as hand-held.

FYI: I am not a big fan of cell phones. I hate it when you're in public and people are yapping on 'em in restaurants, etc. annoying you and when, 80% of the cars that go by seem to have people talking on them.

Cool kgmilton!

I've bet you've seen a lot of odd things on the road as scary as some may be.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to drive big rigs and you have to respect what the drivers go through.

I have enough of a problem just driving a full sized pickup without bumping in to anything.

interesting

WOW!!! Really? I agree with the rest of your post, but there are a ton of studies showing the effect of cell phone use causing accidents.
A sample here
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080531084958.ht...

and here
http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2005/0806-cell_phone_risk...

and here
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/336/7/453

and here
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/99696.php

and here
http://www.unews.utah.edu/p/?r=062206-1

and here
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/DyeHard/story?id=889064&pag...

and here
http://men.webmd.com/news/20050712/cell-phone-use-while-driv...

Many more studies are available, but this is a good start. Hands free or not, people are much more engaged with their phone conversation than with driving.

Yeah, I didn't think there was any doubt about safety issues with cell phones. Anything that distracts your driving is suspect (playing with the radio, picking something up off the floor that fell, eating, make-up, etc), but especially cell phones.

I wish they would enforce the ban on cell phones in places where they have the laws. Although there was a recent prohibition in WA, I see many people driving with their cell phones by their ears and wonder why the police just watch them. I was not surprised when I saw police cars and those driving them had cell phones to their ears as well. Those cell phones did not look like official equipment to me (at least from a distance), unless they are exempt from the ban.

It's a secondary offense here in WA. You cannot get ticketed for holding a cell phone unless you are pulled over for another infraction.

Well if they want me to stop using my gps they will have to pay me for it. My trips are planed from home and if I have to add something I pull over and stop and add what I need.

ohwogo nuvi 750

I still haven't seen the results of any wide scale scientific controlled studies that aren't biased or have other problems.

Like I said before anything that is distracting to the driver can cause lack of attention or accidents. I'm sure if they did some of these "tests" they could prove that listening to the radio or taking to passengers cause accidents.

The point is how much we're going to let the government interfere in our lives.

I'm not saying all government intervention is bad. Accidents are much more survivable now than they were years ago, because of the government pushing auto manufacturers to add safety equipment. However nothing comes free and all this mandated safety equipment they have now ups weight and cost and lowers fuel mileage.

So how far do we let them go? I've heard lately of police stopping a driver who's watching a DVD movie while they're driving. That's definitely intolerable on the road. But what's next? Maybe banning listening to the radio and talking to passengers? We have to draw a line somewhere. Everyone knocks people talking on cell phones, but I don't see many people without them or cell provider commercials on TV decreasing because they aren't selling.

http://mis-asia.com/technology_centre/telecoms__and__network...

http://media.www.pcccourier.com/media/storage/paper1346/news...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2001/02/27/ott_cellphone010227....

http://aei-brookings.org/admin/authorpdfs/redirect-safely.ph...

Opinions are wonderful, everyone has a right to them. Go ahead and pick up that phone and drive.

I live in Ontario Canada, and was upset that they want to include GPSr in the mix. It doesn't make sense. Then on the way home from work they were talking about it on the radio and gave some more details. With regards to the GPS, you can use the GPS as long as it is securely attached to the dashboard, not anywhere on the windshield. Many states have this rule and I can live with this to if in fact this is what it will be. At least that's what the radio program I was listening to said.

I've heard this also but what exactly does "securely attached" mean? The in dash ones from the manufacturer are ok, however, any portable one can't possibly be secured to the dashboard unless you take a drill and bore your way to permanence. I think instead of passing silly laws like this ( by the way, I'm all for the cell phone and blackberry bans ) they probably should've passed one that forced the GPS manufactures to install a lock that wouldn't let the driver update it while the car is moving ( of course the passenger would also be prevented from updating it while the vehicle is moving).

An alternative to all this would've been something clear cut like: "If you're caught updating your GPS while the car is moving you get a fine and demerit points...no exceptions. If you get into an accident and it can be proven that you were updating a GPS, fines are doubled... no exceptions".

This banning thing makes us all out to be 6 yr olds and resembles the days back in the 4th grade when the whole class had to sit with hands on their heads because little Johnny in the corner through a paper plane at the teacher's butt. Sadly it's not surprising because this current government ( which I didn't vote for ) is full of the most patronizing dimwits that I've seen in a long, long time. Supposedly, they've been studying things for the past 6 months... and still they came up with a boneheaded law.

Hooray for cell phone ban, but get real....gps ban.

Thanks everybody for putting up with my rants. I just get kind of upset with the legislators invading into our lives.

I'm sure cell phone use can be distracting to a driver as can many other things.

I could actually care less if they ban cell phones while driving. I don't even like cell phones particularly and don't use mine very much. The rampant use of cell phones in public annoys the heck out of me.

However, I hope they never ban GPS from automobiles. It looks like you'll be ok in Ontario if you use a friction mount or something like that.

I heard recently that California which for a long time has banned windshield mounts is going to start allowing them.

They posted the actual Bill today.

http://tinyurl.com/5g53dj

Although, I'm sure the lawyers could have some fun with the wording (what about Section 78(2)(a)?), it looks to me like they are just prohibiting using a GPS in your hand while driving!

Some of the hype in the earlier media reports sounded much more ominous. The whole thing seems to be silent on the manner of specifically mounting a device (I suppose one could just place it on the seat next to them?) although I'm pretty sure that other existing sections of the Highway Traffic Act would touch on such things as not obstructing the driver's view etc.

Well it looks like it may have gotten watered down a bit. I tend to think the media probably got it right initially and the government did an about face with the GPS issue afterwards.

I smell a potential new FW update to lock out the touch screen while the vehicle is in motion.

Hopefully as a selectable option! Hey! Wait! I think they have this!

It's called Safe Mode!

Garmin has already programmed certain units so that you cannot disable safe mode. Here is the post from another forum:

I recently bought a Suzuki SX4 which came with a nuvi 760. The software seems to be somewhat customized for Suzuki, though you can upgrade with webUpdater and it is recognized as a 760.
My "problem" is that the software appears to have disabled the "Safe-mode Disable" options from the tools->security menu. Does anyone know how to disable safe mode any other way (settings file somewhere?) or how to download standard software to the unit?