Cell Phone Law and GPSrs

[shroomAzoom]

Okay, so regardless of my opinion of the new "cell phone law" in Ontario, my question is, what is an acceptable interpretation of the law with regard to GPSrs. With all the talk about it, I was unsure as to what the law said. Is a GPSr exempt from the law? What if it's a handheld, like the kind we use for geocaching? What about if it's got a dashboard mount? What if my dashboard mount is my cup holder?

So, I downloaded Bill 118 and looked it up.

HIGHWAY TRAFFIC ACT
1. Section 78 of the Highway Traffic Act is repealed and the following substituted:
Display screen visible to driver prohibited
78. (1) No person shall drive a motor vehicle on a highway if the display screen of a television, computer or other device in the motor vehicle is visible to the driver.
Exceptions
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of the dis- play screen of,
(a) a global positioning system navigation device while being used to provide navigation informa- tion;

Okay, so GPSrs in general are okay in the car still. But further along there's a bit of clarification.

2. Part VI of the Act is amended by adding the fol- lowing section:
Hand-held devices prohibited Wireless communication devices
78.1 (1) No person shall drive a motor vehicle on a highway while holding or using a hand-held wireless communication device or other prescribed device that is capable of receiving or transmitting telephone communi- cations, electronic data, mail or text messages.
Entertainment devices
(2) No person shall drive a motor vehicle on a highway while holding or using a hand-held electronic entertain- ment device or other prescribed device the primary use of which is unrelated to the safe operation of the motor ve- hicle.
Hands-free mode allowed
(3) Despite subsections (1) and (2), a person may drive a motor vehicle on a highway while using a device de- scribed in those subsections in hands-free mode.

So, a caution against holding and using my handheld GPSr in the car. I think, just to be safe, I'll be getting a proper dashboard mount (hopefully one that isn't right up on the dashboard) and just use common sense. What are your plans on using your GPSr in the car now that we've got the new "cellphone law?"

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[Wandering_Man]

Actually its a good thing your brought this up seeing as I hadn't even considered that the new laws would effect the use of a GPS in my car. I guess it be safe I should get a mounting unit too so I can glance at the screen while driving. I guess the other piece of the puzzle is to make sure I set the coordinates to find before I start moving and then don't place around with it while the car is in motion..

[ChrisDom]

I guess the next question is: where is the best deal found for a GPS dashboard mount? (price and quality).

[hunter-killer]

We searched locally for a vent mount for our truck, but to no avail. We did not want the suction cup type. Found this site, Mount Guys We have had no problem with their vent mount style for both our Navigational as well as our handhelds. These slide into the louvers of the vent then pull forward to lock into place. These are a big hit as well with other forum members of gps review, and no complaints. If I recall it took 3 weeks to receive, so shipping was slow, but a very good product

[B.A.S.K.]

When I got my Colorado I went on e-bay and bought a "RAM" mount and base.  They make mounts for just about anything.  Mine is a suction cup base.  I like it because I can take it from my truck and put in the car or boat, anything with a smooth surface to mount it to.  I dont remember for sure, but I think the cradle and base were around $50.