This past Christmas, one of the hottest gadgets going was the global positioning system (GPS).It's a handy device, which not only tells drivers how to get somewhere, but the best route, and how long it will take. But it turns out those great gadgets aren't always safe. At Marketplace, we've learned that programming a GPS on the road can be a dangerous distraction.
With the help of Durham Regional Police, we blocked off a stretch of road near Toronto and asked drivers to find directions on their portable navigators. Transportation engineer Paul Green, from the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute, conducted the test while we recorded every move on camera.
Green says drivers shouldn't look away from the road for more than two seconds at a time.
"Every time you look away, that's another time period that you've lost a sense of what's happening while driving." But in our test, drivers trying to program the GPS took their eyes off the road for much longer -- one driver looks away for a full seven seconds!
So just how many people actually program while they drive? Marketplace commissioned the first poll of its kind in Canada and discovered that almost half of all drivers surveyed (47 per cent) program their GPS while driving.
That's not allowed in Ontario, or B.C. anymore, but police say drivers are still doing it. York Regional Police Sgt. Edmond Villamere says a lot of drivers just don't think programming a GPS is as dangerous as texting.
"You're still pressing buttons with your hands," he says. "Your hands aren't on the wheel and your attention isn't on the road."
Green says manufacturers should design portable GPS devices so they can't be programmed while a car is in motion -- just like most GPS's built right into a vehicle.
But that doesn't fly with Steve Koenig of the Consumer Electronics Association in Arlington, Va. He says drivers should take responsibility behind the wheel. "If a consumer is operating a vehicle ... unsafely," says Koenig, "their excuses are their own."
Tell that to the family of Shannon Bentley. The Sault Ste. Marie woman was killed by a driver distracted by his GPS.
Not being allowed to program a GPS while in motion may sound like a good idea when driving alone, but it's extremely frustrating when you're driving with a passenger and the passenger can't even program the GPS.
in reference to the last line of the article, literally countless people have died because the driver was "distracted" by alcohol or drugs... so why not ban alcohol use by drivers... What, they did that, and they are still dying...oh the horror.
restricting usage of a practical and useful device because of the inability of some to use it safely is not the answer. Otherwise, why not just ban automobiles. Such a regulation will only serve to reduce the respect for laws, since many such regulations are notably ineffective and only seem to confirm that the laws are drafted for maximum income and not maximum safety.
It's really sad that they can make stupidity illegal, because that is really what this debate boils down to. It doesn't matter how capable you think you are, driving a car requires your complete attention. You should pull over to use your cell phone or program your GPS - or let a passenger do it for you. It's really just common sense but it seems there is a serious lack of that in our world today.
Mark C. I could not have said it better myself. It is way too easy to get a license. The auto industry should be ashamed for putting profits before the good sense of selling their machines to only people who are fully qualified to operate them ...and the govermnent for bending over and letting it happen, among a lot of other things.
Great answer Rebecca, you are 100% correct. It's not rocket science!
1st the banning of cell phones, now picking on GPS devices, then Tim Hortons.
How about making dexterity, skill, good judgment, risk assessment and intelligence a requirement for obtaining a drivers license? I'm talking about going beyond parallel parking. Insuring drivers can perform under a variety of stresses & distractions is key to having safe drivers.
Testing a new driver in ideal driving conditions & handing them a license & a pat on the back is just wrong. Toughening the requirements for obtaining a license would keep the truly unsafe drivers off the roads, reducing insurance rates, road congestion & pollution. ... See More
After watching the show "Canada's Worst Driver" I can imagine its these type of drivers who get in an accident while on the phone.....and would you really say that the phone was the real problem here...or a gps?
If one has to reprogram, safely pullover to side of road, stop car & reprogram destination. Was this ever mentioned on this report?...not that I remember!
Debbers;
You are not prohibited from using your cellhone in Ontario.
However you may not use your handlheld unit - so the basic premise of your observation is already at fault unless, of course you were referring to 'texting' - that IS the great distractor and certainly ought to be banned for the driver to do while the vehicle is in motion.
But, the way the law is written, believe it or not, you can't even pull to the side of the road to do your texting, because you are considered to be 'in control of the vehicle' even while stopped and that is the way the law is written - you would need to get out of your car to comply with the law.
And how do you accomodate passengers' use of their phones and other devices? Locking them while the car is in motion for passengers is simply counter-productive.
One thing that the show got wrong is that as delivered and by default data entry is prohibited while in motion (at least on Garmin branded navigators);
Your GPS already has a safety feature that prevents many of the functions from being uses while the vehicle is in motion. However most people simply switch that feature off when the device is first used.
Perhaps an acuity test needs to be performed before allowing the user to disable the unit's safety feature?
I watched the episode with interest and was somewhat disappointed to see the accident statistics presented to be completely unattributed and the road tests to have been performed by people who have no idea how to use their devices;
Finding the CN Tower and the airport do not require that you spell the names, but rather just select them from the majopr categories presented by the Navigator (at least in Garmin's case).
Always remember that if you put "Canada's Worst Driver" behindf the wheel and ask him or her to perform a function unrelated to driving, it will cause his already limited skills to be reduced.
Some people should not be allowed into cars with radios OR passenger seats - does that mean that the law should be rewritten to only allow single-seat radio-less vehicles on the road?
As someone who uses a GPS and spends most of the time using it on public transit or as a passenger, I think locking down devices in a moving vehicle is unfair. I'm tired of being treated like a second class citizen because I prefer not to drive.
After watching the show, I was shocked that this was even a story about GPS usage in the first place. I'm seventeen and regularly use my father's GPS, and even I know that when you want to use it, the car must be stopped. Pull over if you're in the middle of the road and need to change directions, it's just common sense. It is most definitely NOT the job of the GPS makers to soften every potential dangerous corner that you can take with the GPS. You teach your kid when is and when is not the appropriate time to play with their new toy - the same should apply for adults.
After watching your program last night on the GPS system, I am totally stupefied that your producers would broadcast such a program. I understand that some people have no common sense: that's a fact of life: but to assume that most of the Canadian population with a driver’s license does not understand that ramifications of using such technology while driving are insulting. I understand that you felt that these people with no common sees need to de notified about such technology and the uses of, I again have to say I found it insulting.
Your program is one of my favorite news shows. But after watching last night, i really have to sit and think about what kind of total B.S. i'm watching. Anyone with a BRAIN knows not to play with stuff while driving. WAKE UP CANADA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your program about GPS systems was dumb at best. I've used one for a couple of year's, program where I'm going before I leave and have never had to touch it while driving. Use common sense, oop's it's not recommended we do that anymore.
Recorded the show..after viewing now a comment. Recently we have been banned from using our cell phones as we drive...a great idea in my mind. GPS systems are no different. A lock down control should be implemented when the vehicle is in motion. Anything that simple somehow is not acknowledged by this "capitalist society". Isn't that what the fellow from Consumer Electronics Company(CEA)mentioned? Suppose the gov's don't have much time for any of this too soon, either.