Australia’s law enforcers are at it again! Not satisfied in raising a hornet’s nest over the proposed banning of mobile phones, we have reports that the Queensland constabulary are fining drivers over the use of their portable sat/nav devices! (and from the comments from some of our readers it seems it’s not only the Queensland Constabulary)
The police assert that if you locate your sat/nav within the sweep of the windscreen wipers (as shown above), then it creates a visual obstruction and a hazzard and you can be fined. They probably have a point, but where else do you put it?
Well, it is suggested by the authorities that you locate it on the bottom right hand corner of the windscreen, right out of the way.
But this means that you have to run the power cable across in front of you to reach the power socket, and that could cause a bigger danger. Of course you can buy a packet of self adhesive cable ties and run the cable as you need to, if you can find a matching colour for your trim. We couldn’t, all we could find from several auto stores and electrical outlets were white sticker packs that certainly didn’t look so good stuck on the dashboard!
Furthermore, if you have a passenger who can help you by reading out the instructions, it’s not much use out of sight. So we reckon the best spot is centrally mounted, out of the wiper sweep and easy for driver or passenger to read.
But then we are not absolutely sure we won’t be fined by Sergeant Plod!
What do you think? Is this over-policing? Are they being sensible, or unnecessarily officious? Where is the best -and safest place for the sat/nav?
Have your say on the post below – we want to hear from you.
FOOTNOTE:- Our March Newsletter revealed the story about Hands Free Mobiles. It really created a furore, with the vast majority of our readers against the thought of banning hands-free mobiles in cars, and we are not the only ones. A spokesman from the Department Of Infrastructure and Transport told us “There has been a large public reaction to the draft strategy.” So a ‘refined’ version of the strategy is expected to be discussed by the various State transport ministers when they meet later this month. We’ll keep you posted.