Car Tech Tuesdays: NJ Lawmaker Seeks Ban on Using Nav Systems While Driving
New Jersey was one of the first states to outlaw handheld mobile phone use while driving, and now a state legislator wants to ban using a navigation system while a vehicle is in motion. According to the Daily Record, Democratic Assemblyman Harvey Smith of Jersey City has introduced a bill that would make it a violation for a driver to enter a destination into a navigation system while a car is in motion, other than via voice activation. The fine would be $100 for each infraction.
Of course, it's never a good idea to punch a destination into a nav system while driving, and many stock systems make you pull over to engage this function, while most portable systems issue some type of warning on a welcome screen. But using a handheld cell phone behind the wheel, especially for text messaging, isn't either. And it's taken passing laws in several states to deter some people.
Which is why Smith, who is also undersheriff in Hudson County, wants to do the same thing with GPS nav systems in the Garden State. And it leads one to wonder where it's going to stop.
If Smith's fellow New Jersey Assemblyman John Wisniewski of Parlin had his way, there would be a blanket law on driver distraction. That's what Wisniewski initially proposed in 2006, but the legislation got whittled down to New Jersey's current handheld mobile phone ban. His original bill was criticized as being too broad and overlapping with a careless driving law already on the books.
But Wisniewski, who chairs the state's Transportation Committee, still plans to push for a broad-stroke approach to outlawing all aspects of distracted driving. "You could literally do a statue banning grooming, eating, changing the DVD, changing the CD -- the list goes on and on," Wisniewski told the Daily Record. "But this is really how we want to proceed."
As a spokeswoman for AAA says in the article, you have to wonder what's next: a ban on accessing music on an iPod while driving?
What common driver distraction do you think should be banned?
- Posted by
- Doug Newcomb June 23, 2009, 3:00 AM
- Permalink
- Categories:
- Automotive Technology, Car Audio and Electronics, Car Tech Tuesdays
- Technorati Tags:
- AAA, Cell Phones, GPS Navigation, iPod
I've seen people do some pretty ridiculous things while driving (e.g. applying makeup, eating a bowl of cereal balanced on their leg, etc.), but a blanket enforcement is foolish and short sighted. If you ban changing a CD, soon you won't be able to change a radio station let alone the temperature. Bills like these need to stop!
They should ban the driver from watching movies/dvd's while driving.
I've seen that more than a few times.
"And it leads one to wonder where it's going to stop."
It would stop when people stop playing with toys and start paying attention to driving.