Gtidan

All we need are more toys to distract us while we drive. Lexus put the restrictions on the nav system cause it could save your life ...........and maybe mine by making you focus on your driving and not some phone number. JMHO

Mike_TX

The world seems to be made up of two distinctly different types of people:

- Those who think it's a mortal danger (and maybe even a sin) to do anything while driving, and

- Those who have the intelligence, coordination and good sense to be able to drive and chew gum (and maybe even fiddle with the nav, radio, climate control, wiper switch, etc., etc.) at the same time without endangering themselves, their passengers or other drivers (or the whales).

I apparently belong to the second category, as I find nothing dangerous or life-threatening about using my Nav system while (gasp!) moving. Ditto for my car's other non-driving-related features, of which there are many.

I have seen the other category of drivers in action, though, and I continue to urge them not to do anything but hold firmly to the steering wheel, focus on the road ahead, always leave a 4-second gap between themselves and the car ahead, and always drive 5mph or more below the posted speed limit.

Because you people scare me more than I scare you!
.
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kensteele

^^^^Mike, no we are scared of you? What city in Texas are you from? This city of "intelligence, coordination and good sense...." Can't be San Antonio (I grew up there). I would say you are fibbing if you say SA drivers are intelligent.

So you can fiddle with your nav and plot routes and courses while driving...all you wish. Just don't expect Lexus to provide you with that capability, you have to get that capability somehow on your own. No one is saying it's not ok, go right ahead and do those non-driving-related features all you want (within the law). But no one else is going to be a party to those features. It's all on you. Opening up the nav to make adjustment while moving makes Lexus a party to your actions (no matter how innocent) and they've already told you many times that they don't want to go there with you. Leave them alone already.

Gtidan

Well said (Kensteele)
While I have no idea what age Mike is (and don't care) if I were guess I would say under 30. Reminds me of what my Dad once told me when I was a young guy. This is what he said: "I sure hope you become all you want to be while your young and 'still know everything'.
Mike may well be more than capable to do all he says he can do. But nevertheless here in So.Cal there is hardly a day that goes by where I don't see some nut on a cell phone weaving around, driving too slow or just not paying attention in general. Sorry Mike, Lexus has my vote to not allow changes while in motion but it sounds like you'll find a way to do it anyway. I'm just glad to know you live outside of California and I won't have to worry about you running into me while you plot your way to wherever your going.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

You'll need to watch out for me then. I'm 46. I live in California. And Lexus did it wrong IMHO. I use the Over Ride regularly. I also use the handsfree, the DVD player, change the display in the middle of the gauges, and God forbid, talk to passengers while driving.

If you haven't learned to manage your attention, you shouldn't do this. But by the same token, I don't need the manufacturer to decide for me that I am incapable of managing my attention sufficiently to put in an address. Having a stumbling block is OK. Having the road completely closed is not. I'll buy Garmin in the future. They don't have these absurd limitations.

westcoast

Why is Lexus taking this risk when it's pretty much certain that they will have to change their decision for their next vehicles? This can't possibly be something that they will continue to not implement in future models.

Where's the conveinence in having to completely stop your vehicle just to change the destination on the NAV? If I'm driving on the freeway, and I need to find the nearest resturant or store in the middle of my trip, it's very inconveineint for me to find a place to stop just to change the location of where I need to go on the NAV. They don't even consider that you can have a passenger controlling the NAV while you are driving.

If Lexus' customer satisfaction and the JD Power awards are worth anything to them, they'll listen to what their customers have to say, and provide us with an update that will take care of this issue. If I'm paying thousands of dollars extra for a certain feature, it better work the way I need it to.

r4z0r3ck

lexus needs to have some type of radar or heat detection in the passenger seat that will then allow for changing stuff on the nav while driving. then youll see a bunch of CLers buy some pot roast and put it on their passenger seat

b3dlam

I dont think its a matter of being smart or whatnot...imho, i think lexus wants to prevent lawsuits against them. At some point, someone WILL try to sue lexus for not exercising due care because "this hack has been posted for a very long time, on numerous car forums, some of which are sponsored by Lexus dealers. Lexus should have know that there is a way for people to bypass their safety gates, and they should have closed them. But they didnt, so i am going to sue them for not looking out for my stupidity."

*shrugs*

even if the lawsuit isnt successful, it still costs a lot to defend themselves. These costs are eventually passed on to us as well! The phrases, "lowest common denominator" and "it only takes a few rotten apples to spoil the cart" comes to mind with these types of issues.

kensteele

maybe lexus will change their implementation. if they do, good for everyone because i don't think anyone will complain that the nav didn't get locked out.

the bottom line is it's up to lexus and not the customer. I don't think they have completely prevented you from changing your destination while moving, they have just prevented you from searching for a new destination while moving. If you already know your destination like you have it stored in memory or it's one of your past destinations, you can change the destination while moving. You just can't go looking for new POIs while moving. So call it what it is. Trying to look up a new restuarant, making sure you have the spelling correct, searching across several entries, checking the address, all before selecting it....that IS dangerous while driving. You won't admit it, but that is dangerous no doubt.

The passenger scenario is not valid so long as the screen is available to the driver.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

So is checking my email on my Treo (or Blackberry). So is putting on makeup, reading the newspaper, adjusting the volume, lighting a cigarette (but I don't smoke), yelling at the kids in the back seat, or better, turning around to threaten to beat them, but people do this stuff everyday too. Just learning to drive a manual puts you at risk because your attention is divided unless you're familiar with the task. Shouldn't there be technical controls to limit or restrict these other far more dangerous tasks?

LET ME DECIDE. I'm the one managing the risk of driving the car. Not Lexus. MY insurance is covering MY driving. Not Lexus's.

The point is, it should not be locked out. If anyone should be worried about this, it should be Hertz with their Everlost, but I'll be damned if I can't change my destination by just acknowledging what I am doing isn't recommended or condoned by Everlost. In a car I just rented and in an UNfamiliar driving environment.

Using this same logic, I should not be able to change CDs while driving because that task certainly is a distraction. There's no lockout for loading discs, and that takes pressing a button and waiting for a light to go green. Why? It's inconsistent. Make it ALL annoying or none of it annoying. Be consistent with the rest of the manufacturers. Or face the fact I will not buy your product again.

BTW, you have an iPod and a V1 listed in your sig. They're not dangerous to operate while driving? My V1 is out of reach and any adjustment requires I alter my driving position. How do you control your iPod? Don't you have to take your eyes off the road and completely change your mental focus to change to the song you want? Is my point starting to make sense?

Lets Drive

iTrader: (3)

To be fair, Lexus must build cars according to the lowest common denominator, which represents a good portion of individuals who cannot manage multiple task while making attentiveness the focal point of their driving. Conversely, Acura doesn't lock the driver out of the navigation abilities while moving.

I'll wager that lexus is attempting to promote the increased level of safety associated with their vehicles, once enough data/statistics have been mined. It would suggest that these lock-outs while moving make for safer driving experiences, even if they are not directly attributed to less accidents.

Mike_TX

Very well put, Lobux.

Driving is a lot more than just mashing pedals and turning a steering wheel. It requires you to be able to perform dozens of tasks simultaneously, and if the average Joe weren't capable of doing more than one thing at a time, driving wouldn't even be possible.

Some carmakers have chosen the Nav system as one item to disable while the car is moving, while at the same time fully enabling other accessories which are equally as "dangerous" (or let's say potentially dangerous).

My guess is that it's because Nav is a newer technology, and they don't figure people have had time to adjust to it like they have radios and power seats and CD changers and other stuff that could be a distraction. But some of us are up to the task already. Others, of course, never will be, but I don't think we should be penalized for them and their lack of ability.

Oh, BTW, I'm 61 years old. (But I'm a YOUNG 61. )

Technique

With the availability of the nav hack, this discussion is moot. Anyone who wants to mod their nav/dvd/mp3 to work while moving is free to do so. Nothing anyone can do to stop that.

r4z0r3ck

But risks their radio warranty to do so...

Technique

"Oh no! I risk my radio warranty! Oh no! The sky is falling!"

Bah... Bunch of sissies...