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US Agency Aims To Regulate Map Aids In Vehicles

Posted by samzenpus on from the the-right-way-to-go dept.

An anonymous reader writes in with news about proposed rules regarding mapping technology used in cars.Many are in favor of rules that prevent texting while driving, but in-car navigation is a murkier legal area — how do you minimize distractions without limiting the ability to get from point A to point B? Like it or not, the US government may settle that debate before long. The proposed Grow America Act would let the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) set rules for dash-mounted GPS units, smartphone mapping apps and anything else you'd use for driving directions. While it's not clear what the NHTSA would do with its power, the Department of Transportation's voluntary guidelines ask for limits on eye-catching visuals (think videos) and interaction times; don't be surprised if these enter the rulebooks.

17 of 216 comments (clear)

  1. We want driverless cars TODAY! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This will all be wasted time once Google perfects the self driving car.

    1. Re:We want driverless cars TODAY! by darkain · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Much in the same way regulations for fuel efficiency are wasted because we have fully electric cars now....

    2. Re:We want driverless cars TODAY! by pr0fessor · · Score: 3, Informative

      We've had electric cars since the late 1800s they were even more popular than gas until cost outweighs the benefit.

    3. Re:We want driverless cars TODAY! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      We already have driverless cars today. Between women putting on make-up, men eating, and teens texting, quite a few cars on the roads today are driverless.

  2. What The?!? by realperseus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Our government has better things to do than waste MY tax dollars on such nonsense! Sigh..

    --
    "Trusting every aspect of our lives to a giant computer was the smartest thing we ever did.." Homer Simpson
    1. Re:What The?!? by i+kan+reed · · Score: 4, Funny

      There should be an exemption to disliking grammar nazis any time someone goes out of their way to emphasize a word, and uses it completely incorrectly.

      (or if your failure at grammar introduces serious ambiguity problems)

    2. Re:What The?!? by Ralph+Wiggam · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The rate of US car fatalities has plummeted 75% over the past 45 years, largely due to government mandates and the NHTSA. The hundreds of thousands of people who are alive today because of those actions probably don't consider it "nonsense".

  3. Overreach much? by russotto · · Score: 4, Interesting

    They want to regulate mapping apps on smartphones, including those not installed in vehicles? Seems like more than a bit of a stretch.

    1. Re:Overreach much? by mellon · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This latter bit is a real problem in our Prius: you can't enter a destination without stopping. It lets you do other things, just not that. Really annoying, because it's almost always the case that when we need to enter directions, we're driving somewhere together. It would be nice if the NHTSA rules allowed for passengers.

    2. Re:Overreach much? by tysonedwards · · Score: 4, Interesting

      They want to have the authority to regulate apps that after release have been linked to "safety related issues" that have an intended purpose of being used primarily while driving on a road. They're not asking to regulate all cell phones, or twitter, or Facebook use while in a car (yet), what they are asking for is the ability to bitch-slap developers after the fact who create apps that are designed for use while driving yet lead to distractions, ergo creating safety issues for those likely using said app while driving, presumably on a highway. To that end, is someone more likely to be using Navigon, Garmin, TomTom, or the multitude of other apps while going for a walk, or when driving somewhere?

      And if they incorporated a "Thank you for using MotionX GPS Lite, before giving your your directions, please watch this YouTube video and answer this quick survey!", should NHTSB or anyone else for that matter have the authority to tell them that that is morally wrong, and potentially unsafe behavior, let alone compel them to take corrective action?

      Their request for oversight over this area doesn't seem like a "major" stretch at this point, but it does set a quite unusual precedent that can be used to expand their powers in the future. And as we all have seen in the past, if Government has the potential to grow, it will do so.

      --
      Thirty four characters live here.
  4. see ya by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So long speed trap alerts in Waze.

  5. Can they start regulating back-seat driving, too? by OSULugan · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'd love for them to limit the type and amount of distractions from my wife telling me where to go, too.

  6. Re:Can they start regulating back-seat driving, to by Enry · · Score: 3, Funny

    Wait, your GPS can give directions to Hell?

  7. WTF by kwiecmmm · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So what if someone else in the car is looking at the directions while you are driving? Will their ability to look at directions be significantly hampered?

    It is a good thing that these Congress people don't have any important things to worry about so they can focus on this ridiculous crap.

    In the mean time my car might just drive on an interstate with failing bridges, or into a tunnel with ceiling tiles that could fall at any moment, but focusing on this is obviously the best thing for Congress to do.

  8. My Ford does it fine by kannibal_klown · · Score: 3, Informative

    I may have issues with my Ford, but I think they got it right in terms of Navigation. I have little-to-no reason to have to look at my media center. Everything is done by voice (including asking for an address) and the next-step-direction-guide is on my speedometer where I have to glance on occasion anyway.

    The only improvement I can think of is a really small projection on the windshield saying "Turn right in 0.7 miles onto Main st"

    All voice controlled, so I don't have to even try typing while driving (if I were so inclined). Click my tumb-button on the steering wheel and say "Destination Address" and then state the address when prompted.

    The system's voice prompts me on where to turn, and when. Including the street names and exit number.

    And instead of having to look too far down at my media player (which I COULD), instead there is a mini direction-reminder on my speedometer. Just saying the name of the next turn's street, distance, and a left-arrow / right-arrow / etc. Since I tend to have to glance down at that every couple of minutes anyway it's no big deal.

    No fuss, no typing, no looking too far away from the windshield.

  9. Can this apply to billboards too? by MobyDisk · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Can we also get rid of animating billboards? Those slideshow transitions are distracting when driving since the brain pays attention to movement.

  10. First ever car video game by MobyDisk · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The NHTSA has finally caught up with me.

    Around 2001 or so I rigged a pair of laptops with GPS and Wifi (high tech!) so they relayed coordinates to each other and ran a star-trek esque battle game. The passenger would hold the laptop which showed the opponents position and shields as well as weapons fire. They would feed information to the driver who would dodge virtual torpedoes.

    A few friends of mine tested this out, but I abandoned the project because this surely would have killed people.