
A Dangerous Change To Google Maps - edent
http://shkspr.mobi/blog/2013/07/a-dangerous-change-to-google-maps/
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joshuaellinger
I really hope he doesn't actually use Google Maps while driving at 70 MPH.
That's a hell of a lot scarier than anything Google has done.

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Piskvorrr
Depends on what your definition of "use" is - I, for one, have used navigation
software while driving in excess of 70 MPH, in the following manner: the phone
is docked in a holder within my angle of vision, display is on, map with
directions is displayed, closest direction is read out at an appropriate time
(note the absence of user input at this point in the use case, as the route
was calculated and plotted before entering the vehicle). How is that scary?

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joshuaellinger
Turn-by-turn audio driven GPS is not scary.

But taking your eyes off the road to read a 3.5" screen just sounds risky. I
guess if you are on an empty highway in Texas, it would be safe.

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Piskvorrr
Shortly glancing at a 3.5" screen - just off the steering wheel - to verify
that I am where I think I am doesn't sound risky at all to me; I'm certainly
checking several objects of this size (and further out of the road's
direction) more often than I check the GPS anyway (rear-view mirrors, the
speedometer, and the dashboard combined display, in decreasing order by
frequency).

Moreover, if you're doing 70 MPH, you're probably on a motorway - in that
case, you should be prety well aware what's in front and behind you, at what
relative speed, and how far. If all these are within a safe range, checking a
nav unit shouldn't divert your attention for too long for any of these
parameters to become unsafe, just like checking the estimated maximum range on
the combined display. Of course, abandoning the driver's duties in congested
traffic to play with a smartphone would be scary; but that's a different
situation altogether.

