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Legality/Morality of Watching TV While Driving?

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by Jack66, Jun 3, 2008.

?
  1. No problem whatsoever.

    7.0%
  2. Interested, but caution needed.

    18.3%
  3. Are you CRAZY!?

    62.0%
  4. Multitasking of any kind should be illegal.

    12.7%
  1. Jack66

    Jack66 Kinda Jovial Member

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    Most males will certainly be fascinated with the problem of getting live TV signals to the MFD while the car is in motion. Whether the modification is moral and/or legal does not change the fact that most guys will just want to see if they can do it or want to read how someone else managed to make it work.
     
  2. NaptownPrius

    NaptownPrius Getting Greener....

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    Might as well drink and drive, too.

    TV in the front seat for the driver= bad idea.
     
  3. chrisspaulding

    chrisspaulding sexy, high tech, fun

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    .
    Cool poll Jack66! This should be interesting.
    I placed my vote.
    .
     
  4. eagle33199

    eagle33199 Platinum Member

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    One of my fraternity brothers, back in the day, put in a touch screen and a computer in his car... It would be dubbed the deathmobile on all roadtrips from there on out due to the swerving from lane to lane as the entire car watched a movie...
     
  5. Jack66

    Jack66 Kinda Jovial Member

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    PC is like a good marriage in some aspects -- you get introduced to new perspectives and hopefully you grow and get smarter as time goes by. It is also like a marriage because the posters don't always see things the same way and can easily push your buttons, but in the end everyone gets along. :D
     
  6. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    And soon we'll get to fight over the remote in the car, too? ;)
     
  7. Jack66

    Jack66 Kinda Jovial Member

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    And I left out any references to sex... :)
     
  8. cmympg

    cmympg Who knows? Who cares?

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    I was going to make a reference to having your very own drive in theater anywhere, anytime. :D
     
  9. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    Ya know, if it was just you and your passengers who would get killed or hurt in the event that the TV is enough distraction to cause an accident, then I would just consider it as darwinism. But, you can kill other people with your vehicle too.
     
  10. tkil

    tkil New Member

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    If you're going to title the poll "legality/morality", then why not offer exactly those options?

    1. both legal and moral
    2. legal but immoral
    3. illegal but moral
    4. illegal and immoral

    FWIW, I know that it is actively illegal in some states (California being included; I looked through the Kentucky vehicle codes, but couldn't find anything relevant offhand).

    This is a handy collection: Digital Driver | Road Rules

    I personally also believe it is immoral: you are risking others' safety for your own unnecessary pleasure. Not a good ethical tradeoff in my book.

    But hey, go ahead and install it -- you're an American, dammit, and entitlement is our middle name!

    Let us know when you get into your first accident. I look forward to saying "I told you so".
     
  11. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    i have live TV on my cellphone now... have only been tempted to catch something a few times. mostly the news... i mostly listen anyway...just because its on cellphone DOES NOT mean its commercial free... plenty of them still...
     
  12. bac

    bac Active Member

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    If it were a matter of Mr. TV putting just his own life at risk, I'd have no problem with the idea - in fact, I'd encourage it. However, since Mr. TV wants the risk the lives of me and everyone else on the highway, I have a real problem with this type of irresponsible behavior.

    On the upside, at least he won't miss Oprah anymore. :rolleyes:

    ... Brad
     
  13. Jack66

    Jack66 Kinda Jovial Member

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    I have two daughters with another due any minute now and I go a little nuts thinking about a careless driver possibly taking them from me for something as trivial as not missing a TV show that could be recorded on a DVR at home and viewed later; however, the Prius is the most awesome car I have ever owned and I wonder how to tackle such a technological problem.

    On the safety side - what if we could view our blind spots on the MFD via little cameras? Would that be OK? I don't know about everyone else but I was a little alarmed at the blind spots of my Prius. They aren't too bad but they were more than the Ford Focus I gave up for my Prius.

    I appreciate all the good, honest comments so far! :)
     
  14. Jack66

    Jack66 Kinda Jovial Member

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  15. ForTheGlory

    ForTheGlory New Member

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    I read a tip from somebody on this website which allowed me to almost completely eliminate the blindspots in my car.

    -Lean all the way to the left, such that your head is touching the driver's side window. Adjust the left mirror so that you can just barely see the side of your car in it.
    -Lean all the way to the right and adjust the right side mirror so that you can barely the see your car.

    Now, vehicles on the road should always be visible to you in one of your three mirrors, even when you're sitting in your normal driving position
     
  16. Jack66

    Jack66 Kinda Jovial Member

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    One of the first free mods I made to my Prius -- it helped a lot but the blind spots are still more than what I had in my car prior to the Prius.
     
  17. Jack66

    Jack66 Kinda Jovial Member

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    Thanks, tkil. I thought about that but my third child is due any minute now and I have been a little distracted!:D

    BTW, in your research did you happen to find out why the guy in Alaska was acquitted? This was from the CTVA article you linked, "Last year, an Alaska man was acquitted of charges he caused a fatal crash by taking his eyes off the road while watching a movie on a DVD player mounted on his truck dashboard."
     
  18. TheForce

    TheForce Stop War! Lets Rave! Make Love!

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    I find that when I have a video playing on my car PC its just like having the navigation screen on. I only glance at it once in a while just to see whats going on. Its really not a distraction. Watching porn on the other hand is a BIG distraction. Please don't watch porn and drive.

    Same way with my cell phone. I rarely use my phone and when I do use it while driving ( which is extremely rare ) I can talk on my cell phone and drive at the same time to. Holding the cell, using my turn signal, looking at all my mirrors, checking my blind spots, seeing what the other cars are doing in front and behind me, trying to time the lights, pulse and glide. Its really not that hard when your focused.
     
  19. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    if you did it right, other than the somewhat restricted rear view, you should not have any blindspots
     
  20. cmympg

    cmympg Who knows? Who cares?

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    I doubt that there is a person posting here who hasn't had an experience dealing with a distracted driver. There are many posters on the other thread who brag about their multitasking abilities. Are they absolutely certain they have never cut another driver off because they weren't paying attention to the road?

    I can see it now. You are in traffic during rush hour. You are a sports fan who missed the end of the big game last night. The morning news does a replay of the potential winning shot in the last 10 seconds of the game. Are you going to be watching the road or the TV when the guy in front of you slams on his brakes? Will that half second delay in hitting your brakes mean the difference between you getting to work safely or having an accident?

    Don't we have enough distractions while we are driving without adding to them? How do we decide who can and who can't watch TV while they are driving? Do you have to take a test to see if you can multitask? How many elderly people will try to watch TV and drive just because they can?

    It's not that I don't think it can be done, I just think it opens up a whole bunch of problems that need to be considered.

    As far as TV in a non-moving car- cool if you want to do it. I can think of more comfortable places to watch TV.