does this look safe?

**disneysteve** · 11-09-2015, 05:47 PM

Oh my god! How many more ways will they come up with to distract people from what they are supposed to be doing - DRIVING.

NO! This does NOT look safe. It looks outrageously dangerous.

"Amazingly handy visor clip instantly makes you a safer driver.

Installs in seconds without tools onto your car�s visor to let you easily see your GPS or any size phone."

How the hell does clipping my phone on my visor blocking my view of the road make me a "safer" driver? You aren't supposed to "easily see your GPS or any size phone" while you're driving. You're supposed to see the road around you. When are people going to learn that?

Put down the damn phone and focus on driving.

**FLA** · 11-10-2015, 02:35 AM

How do you get around without GPS though if you are in unfamiliar territory? It safely got me from patient's house to patient's house without pulling over to read the paper directions all the time. By the end, I could barely cognitively follow the paper directions. I did not think looking briefly at while listening to a GPS was all that unsafe. This looked like an option for me to use iPhone Maps because it would close enough to read. But yes, I acknowledge it looks unsafe as it is on the visor.

That is why I asked.

As for talking on the phone, I have never even used Suri and don't know where she lives in my phone. It is legal here to accept or make a voice call that is handsfree, but has to be totally handsfree. Everything else is so restricted and heavily fined, I kind of assume hands free must be relatively safe if NY has not eliminated it. Since I'm not driving, it's a moot point, I just wanted to give my old GPS to DD in the hopes that Maps could replace it.

In hospice, my Blackberry beeped and called, emailed and texted all day long. I pulled over or if I couldn't, waited to answer when it was safe to pull over, if someone had passed, me waiting 2 mins to safely return the call was not going to make him less dead. So many people got ticketed for not doing this in my office, the point was pretty much drilled home. The number of adults who got snagged for texting was surprising.

Where is the safest place to mount your GPS? A cop friend told me they are supposed to tell people to mount it below the radio which he said makes zero sense because then you are taking your eyes totally off the road to look down.

**amastewa93** · 11-10-2015, 04:31 AM

I am not sure that the visor clip is the smartest of ideas, but that all depends on how close you sit to the wheel, etc. I have taken Uber rides where the people driving me have a clip on their air conditioning vent (to the left, right by the turn signal in most cars). This seems like a safer alternative. I get lost constantly, especially in new places, so I feel your pain, but this definitely doesn't look like the safest option.

**disneysteve** · 11-10-2015, 05:37 AM

Originally posted by FLA View Post

How do you get around without GPS though if you are in unfamiliar territory?

As for talking on the phone, I have never even used Suri and don't know where she lives in my phone. It is legal here to accept or make a voice call that is handsfree, but has to be totally handsfree.

Pretty much every GPS today, including those built into smartphones, give voice commands. They walk you through every turn so that you don't need to look at the device. You just need to listen.

I use my GPS occasionally (rarely, but now and then). When I do, I set the destination before I pull away and hit Start when I'm ready to go. The phone sits in the cup holder and I follow the directions it gives me. I never actually look at it unless I'm stopped somewhere along the way but never while I'm actually driving.

As for phone calls, no, numerous studies have shown that just the act of talking on the phone - handsfree or not - is a significant distraction. You really shouldn't do it while driving. If a call is that important, pull over to make/take the call. Better to reach your destination a few minutes later than to not reach it at all.

Sadly, I realize I'm in the minority here. Just look around when you're on the road. Most people are talking, texting, and more while behind the wheel. It's amazing that there aren't even more accidents. I have an older car so it doesn't have all of the technology built in but a couple of weeks ago I had a rental with the whole onboard computer system, GPS, Bluetooth, sound system, and who knows what else. There was a large touchscreen display in the center of the dash. It didn't really bother me during the day but at night, it was like having a flashlight shining in my face while I was driving. It also caused a reflection in the windshield which obscured my view. If there was some way to turn it off, I couldn't find it, but I sure found it to be dangerous. And know Chevy is promoting onboard WiFi to further encourage drivers to do something other than drive. It makes me fear for my life every time I get on the road.

**Weird Tolkienish Figure** · 11-10-2015, 06:42 AM

Originally posted by FLA View Post

http://www.dreamproducts.com/visor-c...ssories_Bronto

it would solve my problem of not being able to use my phone as a GPS because I cannot read my phone that far away with traditional mounts. I could have Suri make a call and be hands free. now she sits in the cup holder and I have to hold the phone in my hand to get her to dial. Which is against the law. I could give my GPS to DD who just learned to drive (a GPS for her invisible, imaginary car, lol).

But the way they show it, it looks kinda unsafe, maybe you could apply it to the far left of your visor. What do you think?

Safety is relative. It's not as unsafe as driving with your eyes completely off the road, on the other hand, maybe not as safe as pulling over and figuring out where you need to go ahead of time?

**FLA** · 11-10-2015, 08:24 AM

I'm having short term memory issues and embarrassingly, confusion, and comprehension difficulties. I cannot follow more than 2 steps at once, by the third I've forgotten the rest of the steps. I constantly tell whomever is kind enough to drive me places that they are going the wrong way to my house. My poor father got so sick of hearing that, he now says, "we're taking a short cut". So I do not drive at all, now that would be grossly unsafe.

I was just trying to figure out a way to be able to see the cell's GPS when/if I ever regain driving. It's become habit to glance at the GPS instead of just relying on verbal instructions because I am a horrible judge of things like "turn left in 500 ft".

I'm not sure why totally handsfree talking is more dangerous than talking to someone sitting with you in the car. Probably because people would be inclined to talk all day whenever they are passenger-free. But if the stats say it is, then so be it, I won't do it.

**amastewa93** · 11-10-2015, 10:06 AM

I think that this is mainly what works for you. I am a distracted driver as it is, I can't have my phone accessible. If I need GPS, I use a GPS (Garmin) and I tack it on my dashboard.

**disneysteve** · 11-10-2015, 11:58 AM

Originally posted by FLA View Post

I'm not sure why totally handsfree talking is more dangerous than talking to someone sitting with you in the car.

Why is talking on your phone in your car more distracting than talking to a passenger?

https://www.quora.com/Why-is-talking-on-your-phone-in-your-car-more-distracting-than-talking-to-a-passenger

Answer (1 of 4): Both Cell phones and talkative passengers cause distractions to drivers – while cell phones cause more distraction. There is one significant difference established by the study conducted by University of Utah. The study looked into the difference between the possible distractio...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/talking-on-a-cellphone-while-driving-is-risky-but-simpler-distractions-can-also-cause-harm/2014/02/07/49675ce8-8cf2-11e3-95dd-36ff657a4dae_story.html

**FLA** · 11-10-2015, 12:52 PM

makes sense, thanks

my son has been very complaint about safety with the car but he does have a GPS. hmmm.....

**amastewa93** · 11-11-2015, 02:36 AM

I personally wouldn't survive without GPS so I need it in my car...but, like I said, it's really about what works for you.

**disneysteve** · 11-11-2015, 04:43 AM

Originally posted by amastewa93 View Post

I personally wouldn't survive without GPS so I need it in my car

How old are you? How long have you been driving?

I'm 51. I got my license in 1980. I didn't get a smartphone with worthwhile GPS until 3 or 4 years ago. That's over 30 years that I somehow survived driving all over the place without a GPS.

I think this is another of those things that people have convinced themselves is a need, not a want. I think it has also contributed to a decline in people's ability to read a map. But I'm straying off topic here.

**corn18** · 11-11-2015, 05:18 AM

Yes, I can navigate without a GPS. But I am much safer doing it with one. I remember those trips glancing down at the atlas that was laying on the passenger seat trying to figure out where to go.

Same thing applies when we got GPS in our fighter jets. I could find an ammo dump in the middle of country X using a paper map and a watch. It was a lot easier once we got the GPS and moving map.

Tom

**FLA** · 11-12-2015, 02:23 AM

Originally posted by disneysteve View Post

How old are you? How long have you been driving?

I think this is another of those things that people have convinced themselves is a need, not a want. I think it has also contributed to a decline in people's ability to read a map. But I'm straying off topic here.

I am 45, so driving 30 years. That is not the issue here, as I explained I am not driving due to neuro/cognitive issues and also have very low blood pressure d/t POTs. I cannot remember the way back to my own house and always tell whomever is driving me that they are going the wrong way (they totally aren't). I also had a detached retina that could not be repaired fully so I only see colors out of that eye. So now I can't read the print on a map at all and I would have to keep pulling over to follow the steps as I usually can only remember two instructions at a time. But I can assure you that with 19 yrs of some type of nursing home care, I had good map skills. I did learn to adjust to driving with only one eye but without GPS it would've been a lot harder. It is because of these new issues that if I were driving, I would want and kind of need GPS. However, I will not be cleared for that for a good while and that makes sense, i would not drive like this.

When I worked in home care and hospice home care, it was a PITA to find the best route from house to house using a map. You may think you know your city but most of the time I had never heard of the street a patient lived on. GPS made our jobs easier and saved time. I think this type of job should have GPS without judgment of map reading skills. If you are in a very bad neighborhood, totally lost, do you really think it's safer to keep pulling over and checking that map again and again in an unsafe part of town? You stick out like a sore thumb if you keep doing that. GPS gets you out of there fast.

**FLA** · 11-12-2015, 02:26 AM

ok, cognitive issues evident as I said almost the exact same thing about them a few posts back, lol.

does this look safe?