End distracted driving once and for all with these innovative car mounts

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Originally published at: End distracted driving once and for all with these innovative car mounts | Boing Boing

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You don’t get rid of distracted driving by mounts. You get rid of it by putting the phone in the glove compartment and leaving it there.

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Alternatively - and I know this is pretty radical, given how few seem even to know HOW to do it - but just switch the effing thing OFF. You know, power it down, unboot it, shut it down, etc.

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Or just leave it in a pocket. Not answering your phone is the easiest thing.

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You’d think.
But some people seem to find it impossible not to answer it, or at least look at it to see who it was calling.
If not powered off, it must be hidden and silent.

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I’ll defend these mounts, I use my phone to stream music thru the stereo. Sometimes I want to know who is playing a quick look tells me that. It’s no more distracting than looking at the gauges. My calls are handled by Bluetooth and steering wheel controls, again, I can see who is calling, and decide if I want to talk to them or not, again with minimal distraction.

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I call BS on the Gravity X Car Phone Mount I can tell that most likely that the guy in the pink shirt is in Florida (homes in the background) There is NO way a 3M sticker is going to hold up that device with the car sitting in 85+ degree temps with the FL sunshine

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You could be right but you might be surprised what various types of 3M sticky foam tape are used for, including holding on the metal cladding on the Disney concert hall in LA and the Burj Al Arab in Dubai are held on with VHB tape. And it gets pretty hot in Dubai.

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Something like this would be useful for those of us navigating by our phone’s Google Maps. I use an aux cable to patch the voice directions through my car radio, but a mount would let me easily glance at the map on the screen from time to time. (I don’t often need Google Maps, but for trips to areas I don’t know too well, it’s helpful.)

That’s probably the only time I use the phone in the car, though. Otherwise it gets ignored, and I can call back when I get to where I’m going. If I do need to make a call on the road, I’ll find a place to park first.

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Because paper maps are so much safer and more efficient than using GPS on a phone.

I never take calls while driving, and don’t use my phone for music in the car unless I’ve rented a car with Android Auto or similar (which removes the need for a mount). But if I have to drive somewhere unfamiliar under time pressure, I do want to have my phone visible for navigation.

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Pre-COVID, I was a daily user of Waze driving to and from work, as it’s great for avoiding traffic snarls. So I’ve been a long-time user of phone mounts, and I know that at least half of these must suck a lot.

My problem is with the very idea of using vent clips to hold the mount. So far, I have had two vanes break loose from their control arm because they are not engineered to support the mass of a mobile phone and charger! These are flimsy pieces of plastic that were designed for a specific purpose: redirect a little bit of gently moving air in whatever direction the user wants. They’re not structural supports.

Could the automakers fix this by providing some kind of small hole designed to securely hold a mount? Not without tacitly supporting the idea of “a driver should be able to see their mobile phone while driving”, which is yet another class action suit waiting to happen*. So I guess this crap is here to stay, at least for a while.

* I still have no idea why they haven’t been sued to oblivion for their built-in touch-screen panels. There is no way to use a touch screen without taking your eyes off the road; doesn’t matter if it’s a phone, tablet, or infotainment system.

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I likewise use my phone while I drive. But regardless of whether you do or don’t, let’s not kid ourselves that holding the phone is the distraction, and mounting it is a cure. The phone is the distraction, and it’s safer not to use it. Sticking it to your windshield or pairing it with your car does jack shit.

It’s bad enough we endanger our neighbors. Let’s not compound it by [ignoring the true issue].

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