Thread: using your phone as a GPS in your car- Unlawful

Originally Posted by Jeff

Still not blocked as much as the A-Pillars on modern cars. Or tyres on the bonnet on Land Rovers

Jeff

Yep hire a toyota corolla or similar.

Originally Posted by Roverlord off road spares

Yep hire a toyota corolla or similar.

...and THEN put a 7 inch GPS smack bang in the middle of the windscreen!

With a Hema 7 mounted as low as possible in the centre of a Defender windscreen I have unobstructed view of all my bonnet edges. Am I still breaching this law?

The law appears to relate to having a clear view rather than specific devices in specific locations. For example it could be a clipboard jammed against the windscreen.

Jeff

Jeff

Originally Posted by Jeff

Jeff

Oh I'd like to reach out and touch that , don't need a windscreen do you ?

Originally Posted by Roverlord off road spares

The new laws prohibit a driver from even holding a mobile phone, cradling one on their shoulder or resting it on their laps - even if the phone is not in use.
Drivers will only be able to use mobile phones if they are placed in purpose-made cradles and operation is entirely hands-free.
Those caught breaking the new Victorian laws face a $234 fine and the loss of three demerit points.

These aren't new laws. They came in Nov 2013

Originally Posted by ramblingboy42

Never used one, never will.

I plan where I'm going before I leave.

If I'm in unchartered territory I consult a map, a refidex, or talk to the local publican.

I still think many people have a fixation with electronic devices and love pressing buttons.

That is a stubbornly backward attitude. GPS is the best thing to happen to navigation since the invention of the compass! In General Aviation there was a loooong time reluctance to allow GPS in place of paper charts. This was only changed a couple of years ago but by then 99.9% of GA pilots were using it exclusively. I fly with an iPad & iPhone backup and my general paper WAP chart stays in my bag which I never have to get out.

Many GPS antennae can also be supplemented by GLONASS (the Russian satellite network) so there's redundancy in that even. And it's only going to keep getting better and more accurate.

Just because it's not idiot proof is no reason to flat out refuse to use it. I agree that you should still PLAN your route before setting off. But tell me, when your planning your journey the night before and your Refidex is outdated, what then? No app store for Refidexes I'm afraid. And any half decent GPS app will be updating daily or weekly. A paper map doesn't mean it will be more accurate than a electronic one.

Sure, some people are technofiles who will stupidly use more complicated tech just because they like it, but I have to be honest, GPS is better in just about every way shape and form than paper maps - other than perhaps battery life. But then again, if you have only one battery, or no charger then you're an idiot anyway.

Embrace it and it will be your friend.