Ask someone who has killed an innocent child while they were texting or fooling with a screen. That 30 seconds of freedom cost them ten of thousands of dollars in court costs, jail time, and a life long loss of opportunities with a felony record always dogging them. And then a few of us would also have a conscience that would not let us forget what our 30 seconds of freedom did to some grieving family. Get real... thank you Toyota. Interesting video Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com
We don't have enough paper and enough laws to stop people from doing stupid stuff every single day. It is a waste of time money and energy to even think that we can right enough laws and fix stupidity. Now from what I'm reading the states that have passed laws banning texting while driving have increased in fatalities, simply because now the people have to hide the phone and look even further away from the road, that they are suppose to be watching to not crash. I find texting a waste of my time all together and don't do it at all. Before you start through me under the bus and calling me a baby killer because kids text and crash. This is just another get on the banned wagon to stop stupidity kicks. The person that crashed and caused all these things bad things to happen to him could not have been saved by a law, that person had no choice. Its in his or her blood past down from mother and father, its called idiocy.
Laws won't stop people from doing stupid things. But they WILL stop some fence-sitters from starting to do stupid things when they know there's a consequence. If a law then saves one single life, it's worth it.
Another option is using cproaudio's navigation speed lock override sold through the priushop. Thread with details here: Anyone interested in how to bypass the factory navigation speed lock? | PriusChat
Really? I am a responsible driver with with a perfect record age 54. I have had high tech and every gps you purchase to go onto of your dash has both verbal and physical control available. It is rediculous that when driving a Prius, a person can't have their passenger push in the location while driving. The voice command is the WORSE I have encountered, but the internal information is great...IF I can access when driving....which one can't....as sometime things change and you need to change something in the system. It is rediculous that so many other things you CAN push on the navigation system, a phone, radio, etc... AND some controls with navigation while driving, but THEY dicatate which ones you are allowed to use or not! You can't turn of the verbal navigation when driving either. I want a bypass. Does anyone know if the bypass system sold also make the dvd play when driving? My daughter is old enough to sit in the front and a long drive sure would help her along the way. I don't plan on watching....love driving too much and out lives. Signed a responsible driver, Michele....There are going to be irresponsible drivers no matter what.....but so unjust for Prius maufactuers or engineers...to tell us what controls we can access and what we can't. If they wanted us to so safe, they why have it in there at all?
You can take the "my freedoms" theme too far. I'm from NC now and the legislature just allowed over 21 motorcycle drivers with proof of $10k in health insurance to drive without a helmet. I've seen 4 motorcycle crashes over my life, 1 death, two hospital and the last and most recent a good friend who showed me a stack of bills totaling over $1.2M (and a leg cut open from hip to ankle to the bone I jokingly called "fillet of Charles"). Helmet on, 45MPH, his bike wasn't hurt badly and the other car (at fault) wasn't touched. Fortunately for us taxpayers and consumers of health services, he was an ex-insurance agent and had excellent coverage otherwise everyone in the state or who used the emergency-flight service or the hospital would be paying part of that bill. Without a helmet, he is dead. Without a helmet, we pay. My wife is often the navigator from the passenger seat and for years she controlled a portable GPS safely but sometimes I just have to give up a little of my wants for the greater good.
Correct on insururance..I think also, insurance needs to change. I don't consider what they have done to the Prius Navigation system giving up for the greater good. It is rediculous that "they" designate half the items you can press while driving like POI and not others. Also, I have found with voice recognition that you can't turn it off when driving. It just keeps getting better!
Not all rules. regulations, or laws are bad. Give someone an inch and they'll take a mile. Can't imagine any state going soft on helmet laws that have been in place for ages. WOW, proof of $10k health insurance and you get to ride a motorcycle helmet free. Not to beat any dead horses, but the same goes for smoking. Anyone who is either fairly young or in fairly good health think they're immortal. My thoughts, minimize your exposure to anything dangerous. Many laws protect us against ourself.
Not to mention: not many (if any) have sued a car manufacturer for damages from a crash because they have buttons on the dashboard. However many have sued GPS manufacturers for damages from a crash because of being able to input addresses while driving. Toyota's simply covering its butt.
No, it is not. This is one of the things I do NOT like with my Prius. The assumption is that the driver is entering the address, but my wife does that . I totally agree that you should not operate your nav when driving, but I am not alone, and now I have to stop the car to allow for her to enter the new address. Should have been possible to disable in the menus.
There is however a way around this. Check out these instructions on how to How to Override Toyota Prius Navigation Gray out - wikiHow
Why can't the passenger air bag sensor also act as a disable lock-out switch for navigation? That way the passenger could do the navigation while the driver possibly drives. Also, has Toyota issued a software patch for the nav system since my 2013 Prius v nav system works like a 15 dollar Chinese ebay nav system. When you get near your destination, the voice direction stops and doesn't say how much farther or on which side of the road for your destination. The nav takes you in circles instead of to your destination. For what I paid, the nav system is crap. I actually pulled out my 4 year old Garmin which worked better and my passenger got to enter info and get accurate info.
Have to agree the navigation is terrible. The maps were seriously outdated the day I bought the car and the lockout when you are moving is infuriating. It should allow input when the passenger seat is occupied, as you said. I've used Google maps on my smart phone a number of times when trying to find a destination with the simple voice commands. The smart phone does have limitations, though. Useless, when there is no cell signal. I thought I wouldn't need to keep the old trustworthy Garmin in the car but after my experience with the Toyota nav, it is back. I complained to Customer Service and got a "that is the way it is, deal with it" response.