Here is where you can mount your car GPS in California

to locate my nuvi on my dash. Because of the curve of my windshield, none of my vision of the road is obstructed.

I would go with the beanbag mount or you can try one of the air conditioning vent mounts. I have never tried one of these (ac vent mounts) but my brother has one and he loves it. The ac vent mount would circumvent California law, and by the way the law is written, I would say that the beanbag would pass muster also.

Minnesota allows "global positioning systems or navigation systems ... mounted or located near the bottommost portion of the windshield"

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=169.71

I've been driving in So Cal with a gps device for about five years.

IMO, the local law enforcement agencies are not overly concerned with enforcing this law. Just look at the dozens of drivers with gps devices mounted on the windshield just below the rear view mirror AND talking on the cellphone w/o a law required headset.

I believe that if you will read the law that was quoted -- it seems not concerned with visibility as such. It seems concerned about the deployment of airbags turning things on the dash into dangerous projectiles.

As we drive east and west on I-10 in Southern California we see all kinds of people with their GPS unit right in the middle of the windshield, just below the rear view mirror, as you say. I have to wonder why that is such a popular spot for them. It can't be that easy to reach if you need to, whether to make an entry, or just to pop it off when you exit the vehicle, let alone obstructing your view.

I mount mine on the dash just so it is easy to reach. My VW [New] Beetle has a nice smooth surface, so I can use the suction cup and it's in the center just above the air conditioning vents.

On my truck, I might have to mount the adhesive disc [that came with my Nuvi] on the dash. I don't really want to get the bean bag.

So...When a GPS is properly/legally attached to the windscreen - use of the MP3 or Bluetooth functions are now illegal while the motor vehicle is being operated?

Do law-makers do any basic research on the devices BEFORE they write laws covering them? Or do they just sit down at thier laptops, start typing, and "shoot-from-the-hip"?

Or - have I possibly missed something - and there really IS something inherenetly dangerous and sinister about operating my Garmin 760's bluetooth function while using the included windscreen mount.

because that seems to be the place where it obstructs my view the least. It is very distracting to have it in the left corner of the dash.

As for the yahoos in Sacto making this stuff up, what the heck do you expect from a bunch of pinhead bureaucrats? Common sense? Not on this planet...

I bet the person who wrote this didn't have any idea that GPS units can perform other functions. They just assumed they were for navigation and wrote that in so if you were not using it for nav, you must take it down.

I have used a bean bag for about 3 years. It is easier to move from car to car and to hide when I leave the car. The nice part about a bean bag is no marks on the windshield.

So far, no problems.

DOES NOT APPLY to a GPS in the lower corner... etc.

The left corner is actually a really good spot. No vision blockage, and it's just a little left of your speedometer as far as eye movement is concerned. Plus the side pillar hides it from view a little bit. My current car has a top center of the dash compartment that's perfect for the GPS, with no vision blockage. My previous car used the lower left corner and I really liked it there.

Agree 100%. Although I have a bean bag mount and a flat dash, I really like putting the GPS on the windshield in the left corner for exactly the reason you mention.

I thought they changed this so that you could have it on your windshield. Perhaps I just dreamed it.

about...you know...like outlawing Tiddleywinks at Church Socials on the FOurth Sunday of any month ending in the letter Q...

I can hear ChiPs Officers now...gun...check...badge...check...mace...check...tapemeasure,,,WTF?!?!?!

You know...I'm going to retract some of my last statement, because of the use of the two diffrent words "SHALL" and "MAY" in the above Cal. Vehicle code 26708(a) and (b).

Generally in the Rules of Construction of any U.S. civil code words such as "shall", "will" and "must" are used in the imperitave sense. These words create a requirement, as in paragraph (a).

..."A person SHALL not drive any motor vehicle with any object or material placed, displayed, installed, affixed, or applied upon the windshield or side or rear windows."

However, in standard Rules of Construction, the word "MAY" is used in the permissive sense to state authority or permission to do the act perscribed, but does not limit you to only that act.

So, while paragraph (b) begins by specifically excluding portable GPS systems from the windscreen requirement stated in paragraph (a):

..."This section does not apply to (12) A portable Global Positioning System (GPS)"...

The conditional statement that follows:

..."which MAY be mounted in a 7- inch square in the lower corner of the windshield farthest removed from the driver or in a 5-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield nearest to the driver and outside of an airbag deployment zone..."

is - through the use of the word "MAY" - a "permissive statement", and is NOT imparitive, manditory or exclusionary. (You "may" mount your GPS in those squares, but - again because if the choice of the word "MAY" - it is not manditory or imparitive you mount the GPS only in those spots.)

Had the author used the word(s): "shall", "will" or "must" when describing the attachment position of the GPS to the windscreen (e.g. ...which SHALL be mounted in a 7-inch square...) then those described squares would be the ONLY "legal" positions to mount the GPS unit upon the windscreen.

As it is, applying standard Rules of Construction for civil code, you MAY attach your GPS to the windscreen squares described, BUT you MAY attach it anywhere else on the windscreen - since the first part of paragraph (b) lifts the "California windscreen embargo" on portable GPS units.

The conditional phrase:

..."if the system is used ONLY for door-to-door navigation while the motor vehicle is being operated."

is a little strange and troubling though. As written, I interpret that to mean any other use (such as: MP3, bluetooth, MSN, and even POI FACTORY red-light and speed camera alerts) while the GPS is attached to your windscreen is not allowed while the motor vehicle is being operated.

So, take heart Californians...the bulk of you still remain scoff-laws, and the order thus is preserved.

Also makes it against the law to mount a Radar Detector on the glass. The corners would be a bad place to mount the detector so the only other place would be the visor.

Mounted just below the mirror in my van, does not obstruct the view of anything you could hit with a car. Maybe low flying birds but nothing on or near the ground. Using the beanbag, it actually does obstruct the view of something you could hit - but then again so does the dash itself.

Call me paranoid but... when was this law passed? It could be aimed specifically at the growing GPS speed-camera alerts "problem". The radar-detector issue might not be accidental either. Remember, revenue... uh, I meant to say the safety of motorists, is at stake.

- Phil

The law was signed by the govenor September 2008.

It's almost like KIA figured people needed a great place to mount the GPS.

There's a small step in the center of the dash where the clock is mounted. It's just flat enough and large enough to hold a Garmin Suction Mount perfectly. The height and location are perfect.

Both people in the front can easily access, it offers absolutely no obstruction and for people with bifocals, like me, I can easily read the display, unlike when I mount on the windshield.

When you take the suction mount off, nefarious characters won't notice the suction rings and figure that they should break in to steal the GPS.

Seems as the law is just-in-time for all the red-light enforcement cameras that will soon also become speed enforcement cameras in California. And worded nicely to segway into the "further" limiting of GPS datbases and functions, too.

I was just reading the actual text of California Vehicle Code Section 26708 at this website:

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc26708.htm

While you may now mount your GPS any where you wish on your windscreen; it appears to me that all you Virginians visiting California will need to remove your Virginia Vehicle Registration stickers from your windscreens when crossing into California.

Any visitors from other states - similar to Virginia - requiring their registration sticker affixed to the windscreen will have to remove the registration decal as well.

We are watching you...

The vent mounts work very well.

You beat me to it. I was thinking of NY State and their registration & vehicle inspection stickers stuck on the windshield.

Nuvi1300WTGPS

Nuvi1300WTGPS@Gmail.com

I had been using the disc on my dash, but the adhesive only holds for about 2 months before I have to replace it. Got the bean bag for the dash... REALLY do not like it. While not a direct obstruction during the day, at night, the reflection on the windshield is most distracting and blocks my vision. Looking for a new way to mount it on the dash.

The uniform vehicle code would prevent the obstructed vision law from being enforced for government required stickers from those states until the registration was changed to Calif.

Do you mean the uniform vehicle code "would" prevent the obstructed vision law from being enforced, as in it "currenly does" prevent enforcement in California?

Or do you mean the future present-tense "would", as in it currenly "could" prevent enforcement - if only the UVC was put on the California books?

My quick search yeilded nothing saying California adoption of UVC's has, or will, superseed California Vehicular Code Sec. 26708. So as far as I can see California Vehicular Code Sec. 26708, as written, is still the "law of the land" when in Cali...

So, all you New York and Virginia drivers pull-over, get those razor-blades out, and start scraping before you cross that state-line.

And I was just thinking that the GPS law showed UNCOMMON sense - then find out that they require a headset to use a cellphone. Sure, they must block out all the "noise", sirens, horns, etc. That is definitely much safer, right? Now, what is required to listen to a passenger or kids in the car? A PA system connected to headphones? Of course!!

Vent mount on center of dash makes it easier for passenger to see and also use.

Won't center vent mounts block air flow, especially to rear passengers?

I also for years display my nuvi on the dash with the sandbag dash mount, works great

My vent mount is small, and the back of the GPS ends up being about 1.5" from the front of the vent. It does not block the vent, and the air just flows around the GPS, although I do lose some ability to precisely direct the air flow. Some cars these days also have rear seat air vents too.

It brings the GPS a lot closer making it easier to use than a windshield suction mount, since many cars these days have steeply raked windshields.

Mounting on the glass puts it too far away and obstructs to some degree and with a bean bag still puts it too far back for easy access and moves around while typing in an address..

So.. I took a standard hockey puck.. split it in half to reduce the thickness.. then scalloped out the back side to suit the curvature my dash.. and with a dab of Gorilla Glue now have a flat spot right on the edge of the dash.. next to the left side pillar.

Then, removed the rubber suction part of the mount and again with the help of Gorilla Glue permanently glued down the plastic part to the hockey puck.

So.. it is a very permanent mount.. (which may need a redesign when with the next version I get a magnetic connection ) The power cable is exposed only for ~6 inches. placing the GPS in a perfect position for me and looks OEM (sort of).

Center of Dash for 7XX Nuvi

Do you use a heater through that vent too, wouldn't that possibly cause the GPS to overheat when using a vent in the winter? (assuming you are in a place where it gets cold)

I've been to California 4x and Minnesota once in the last 6 years for 2 weeks at a time on vacation. I've always mounted the GPS in the lower centre of the windshield. Being from Canada, I never even knew that there was such a law in place until I came across this thread. Never had a problem but what is the fine if you get caught?