When Driving With A GPS Is Against The Law

Hmmm...I see they mention GPSTrackLog but fail to mention where the site got the info from: me.

So far, these anti distracted driving laws are directed primarily at the mounting of electronic devices. Handheld, windshield and vision obstructive dash mounts are all legitimate concerns. It remains to be seen how far future laws will go in restricting the actual operation and use of properly mounted devices.

The article says: "California adds the proviso that the installation not interfere with air bags."

I have been mounting my GPS on the dash, all the way to the left, on the driver's side, using the bean bag mount. This gives me a great easy view and absolutely no obstruction of the windshield.

However, my car has air bags in the windshield frame right beside this location. These are part of the roof rail air bag that deploys along the side of the car. Depending on how the air bag deploys, it's possible that the GPS could become a projectile.

It's something I never considered, but I am now going to check with the mechanics, at the dealership and get a better understanding.

I think we should all think about this.

These nanny-state laws are getting out of hand. It won't be long before they'll pass a law that prohibits thinking about anything, including your driving, while driving. I don't understand what is wrong with holding a person responsible for their actions. Why do we need to find an excuse for every human failing? "It wasn't his fault he drove into a lamppost, he was distracted by a sexy young girl in a really short mini-skirt!" How stupid is that?

How the heck are we supposed to know the laws regarding GPS usage in each state?

I guess that anyone can legislate that anything other than hands on the steering wheel and eyes looking through the windshield and glancing at mirrors are acts of distraction.

No matter where the GPS is, you will likely always need to glance at it to use its intended purpose. Keeping it in your visual range of looking forward, such as on the dash seems logical but goes against some laws about placing anything in this range of view.

It is downright silly to legislate to the uncommon denominator and occasional individual with such poor judgment and insight that may cause injury or damage to self, others and property.

Judgment is out of the window and abolutes/zero tolerance continues to take hold.

I do agree that drivers should be more cautious and aware of GPS placement that may impact on airbag deployment. That can be done in a PSA- and not a new law.

a site that has all the rules about where it's legal to mount GPS's that covers all the states?

I'm curious

That's what one of my LEO friends calls it, and that's the underlying problem.

But politicos don't get any press time by saying "we already have laws that cover driving while stupid" -- they get press time by standing up on their hind legs and making noise to make sure people know they're trying to protect the children, our safety, and most of all, their jobs.

Some times keen eyesight is mistaken for cynicism...

Or as Gallagher once said, "Don't you wish there was a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence? There's one marked 'Brightness,' but it doesn't work."

I thought they had to slither.

... interest has a stake in stories & "news" being featured or interpreted. Sad that this trend has now spread to our friends up north.

I am fortunate: being able to 'follow the money' is key to staying informed. The other is a skill set of being able to 'read between the lines' (honed during the Vietnam Era). I am able to get most of my news/views here: http://www.bloomberg.com/. Even more interesting is following the Bloomberg TV/Cable version & seeing stories change as the 24hr. crawl shifts from the Orient to Europe and finally back to the US-Canada. Most other local sources have become increasingly a matter of business and power elite diversion & disinformation.

But of course we've been here before: here, then & elsewhere ...

I'm not sure about "all" the rules, but the POI Factory FAQ "Windshield Law and the GPS Receiver" by yours truly does provide a link to each state's relevant statute. The information the article quotes as coming from GPSTrackLog actually comes from here. GPSTrackLog only reported on the existence of the FAQ.

I do need to check the links on it though, as the Kansas link is out of date.

Is there ANYONE that has not disabled the Safe Mode?

I was talking with a group of people, one was an attorney who stated it was illegal to hold or use a phone while driving. She wasn't a gps attorney, I think.

I looked up the California law right then and there and it says you are allowed to dial a number. It's discouraged but allowed.

So that is ambiguous. You can dial, but you can't hold the phone. I have a bluetooth headset on while driving, but often the phone is in my lap, or on the passenger seat. Sometimes, I do use it for navigation. That does entail touching it.

These laws need to be made reasonable. It's not safe or reasonable to expect you to pull over to figure out how to get there.

The law states you are allowed to dial a number. There have been cases tried in the Land of Fruits and Nuts that have upheld the ban against holding the phone when in navigation mode while driving. So, the law clearly allows you to touch the phone to dial a number, but entering data is not allowed. Not ambiguous at all. It just doesn't allow what you think should be allowed.

U BET!!! So we need a dress code law for the streets - Women must be dressed in full length bag dresses with a babushka. Men must wear baggy pants and long sleeve shirts.

We cannot limit our laws to technology.

AND while we are at it, we must limit vehicles to carrying only ONE person. Too much distraction talking to another person. This is especially true for women as they must face a person to talk to them.

We can carry more than one person in a car, ruggb. But only if the driver is walled off from the rest of the car and passengers. The 'Driver Compartment' will only be allowed to contain those controls necessary to actually operate the car, steering wheel, gas pedal, brake, gear shift and ignition switch/starter. Switches for the lights, windshield wipers, heater/air conditioning, etc are too distracting so they should be placed outside of the driver's compartment. They should be placed so as to force the driver to stop and get out of the car to operate them.

I have also been mounting my gps on a bean bag on the far left side of the dash. To tell the truth, I have never even considered what would happen if the closest windshield pillar had an airbag. Has anyone else looked into this?

YouTube video of 2006 Acura TL side airbag deployment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nOpE4A38PI

When I'm driving, I have my GPS, Radar Detector, and a Dash Cam all mounted as low and centered on the windshield as possible regardless of what state/province I am driving through. So far to date, I have not had any issues with law enforcement regarding my placement, although I have been pulled over for speeding (laser or other detection system, fortunately no tickets). I drive my personal car approximately 1000 miles per week, and about 200-500 in rental cars when I reach my destination. I don't think this is a big issue, just mount it and keep on driving Just don't put it directly blocking your view and you should be ok.

So what else is new , it was only a matter of time

I've never understood the window mounting laws. I'm tall, so where I mount it on my window obstructs a part of my view... of my hood.

We have a console mounts on our fire trucks since there are strobes on the windshield where we would otherwise mount the gps, and I can tell you first hand that looking down at my right knee is much more dangerous than blocking a small part of my vision on the windshield. We actually have a protocol that prohibits the driver from looking at the GPS if there is a man in the passenger seat (the driver's job is to drive, the passenger's job is to work the GPS/computer/strobe lights/sirens/talk on the radio/etc)

@shrifty: You may not either. The possibility does exist however, and it's up to each individual to determine whether they want to take the risk or not.

@Steve620: GPS in and of itself isn't illegal. Trying to change settings while driving falls under distracted driving laws, and it makes sense. While not a distracted driving issue, where the GPS is mounted is regulated in a lot of states.

Another example of how driving with a GPS can be illegal is Switzerland. In Switzerland it is illegal to have a GPS containing the locations of their speed enforcement cameras.

Fortunately that would violate the constitution of the United States. So we won't have any such nonsense here.

Which article of or amendment to the Constitution would such a prohibition violate?

Raises an interesting question. An argument could be made it was not illegal to posses a copy of the published information and that argument could be stretched into the use of the published data, but then that's what lawyers are for - they would be the ones arguing this out.

Note that Strephon is asking specifically about the Constitution and subsequent Amendments.

Too many people make false claims about the "Constitution" and what it says.

Congress is, however, given the authority to pass laws.

I do not think that this is an accurate statement. I am not a Constitutional Lawyer, but I cannot think of anything in the Constitution that would prohibit such a law.

If there were something that created such a ban, I think that it could also be applied to prohibiting laws against operating a radar detector in your car. Since laws against radar detectors do exist, I suspect that laws against having a database of speed cameras would not be rendered invalid by the Constitution.

- Tom -

That is why a factory unit is so nice. No worries about cords, placement, theft, batteries, etc. I do have a Garmin also but love my factory unit.

As far as I remember, radar detectors are also illegal in Switzerland. The idea is anything that would make road rules enforcements and the police job more difficult is forbidden.