Virginia Tech tells us that they “never split GPS units out as a distraction in and of themselves, in any of our naturalistic studies. We looked at “wireless devices” which includes cell phones and GPS units.
“Our light vehicle study which was the 100-Car Study was done from 2000- 2001 through 2004 and final report was submitted to NHTSA in December 2004. This was before the texting craze really took hold and was also before portable GPS systems were affordable enough to be widely available for use in cars.”
“We’re finding that risk is directly relational to “eyes-off-road time” and the tasks with the longest eyes-off-road time would be texting while driving and operating/using a GPS or dispatching service.”
What does Transportation Canada think of GPS?
Transportation Canada has been concerned about distraction created by “in-vehicle telematics” such as GPS since at least 2003. This federal watchdog only oversees built-in systems, however, if you take a look at these documents, you’ll see that the department also had concerns about portable units.
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