California law and mounting a GPS on the inside of my windshield

California changed the law on mounting a GPS unit on your windshield,
but the law still seems complicated and limits your options.

(12) A portable Global Positioning System (GPS), which may be mounted
in a seven-inch square in the lower corner of the windshield farthest
removed from the driver or in a five-inch square in the lower corner
of the windshield nearest to the driver and outside of an airbag
deployment zone, if the system is used only for door-to-door
navigation while the motor vehicle is being operated.
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc26708.htm
http://www.ehow.com/about_6513133_california-gps-windshield-law.html
http://www.ehow.com/facts_7419344_california-law-gps-window-locations.html

How many of you use a GPS device and mount it using a suction-cup
windshield mount? Where on the windshield do you mount your unit?
Have you ever been warned or fined by police? Thanks

 

Doesn't seem overly complicated to me. It's just saying it has to be
down in the corner, instead of in the middle of everything like some
idjits do it. Of course, I don't have one, mine are all built in or
in my phone.

Even with all the regulations, I still wind up at stoplights where I
can't see the light from a normal seating position. I can think of
one left turn lane where there is a sign for the other direction
traffic that blocks the view of the signal. (Where the black SUV is,
if I got the link right:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=vista...oid=w1V8si5uUKOeNa3JphEpsg&cbp=12,235.18,,0,0
)

jg

 

What does that last clause mean? That you can only mount the device there
while you're obeying turn-by-turn directions from the device, but can't
mount it there if you simply want to be able to look at a map and find your
own way?

 

Hi,

The wording says to me that only large delivery trucks will meet the
requirements. FedX, UPS, USPS ...

I have my GPS mounted below the windshield and it works well there. UMMV
(Delorme PN-60)

http://shop.delorme.com/OA_HTML/DELibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=10095

shows the gripper mount, I found a different base that the gripper mates
with and my Van Conversion shop mounted it to a air duct.

SHF

 

After early experiments with suction cup windshield mounts I now
always mount the device, typically a smartphone, in a holder
that hooks on to an air vent. This has a whole range of
advantages, so much so that attaching one to the windshield
seems like a truly bad idea.

Would that not be allowed in California?

Hans-Georg

 

It's not complicated at all. You're allowed to mount your GPS on the lower
corner of your windshield (either side).

Of course if you're a solo driver, it doesn't really make sense to mount it
on the lower corner of the passenger side.


- Peter

 

And the text says that a device is allowed in the lower left corner of
the windshield, given it is completely within a 5 inch range of that
corner? With other words, many combinations of flat-angled windshields
and devices are not legal, because even these are less than 5 inch
wide they will not fit in that range as the windshield is monuted flat
and the real corner can't be used.

On the other side: I was in California often enough and never had any
trouble with that.
--

Ciao,
Holger (GUS-KOTAL, GUS#1100, GRR#51)

90-92 Honda CB400 10 Mm | 93-95 Yamaha TDM 850 26 Mm
95-97 KTM 620 LC4 13 Mm | seit 97 BMW R1100GS 81 Mm (Die Renndrecksau!)

cu @ http://www.issle.de

 

Who would seriously be stupid enough to mount a GPS in the middle of the windshield.

 

Simple, just mount it on the outside.

 

haha good one!

 

[clipped long link because my newsreader semms to have mangled it ]

Suggestion: for long links, use http://tinyurl.com or http://bit.ly

The result is a couple of dozen characters long with no more worries.
The sites are easy to use.

Example: here's the tinyURL of your long link:
http://tinyurl.com/7s3b2cr

343 characters reduced to 26 and no clipping...

 

I read it as "while the motor vehicle is being operated" don't use it
for anything other than "door-to-door navigation".

And while the motor vehicle is not being operated, no restrictions.

 

The only restrictions are on windshield mounting. Non-windshield mounts
are not restricted.

 

Best idea yet

I use a rubberized pad with a GPS mount on it. I set it on top of the
dashboard to the right of the steering wheel, where it's easy to see
and doesn't block anything. It's legal, but it does vibrate a little.

 

Some places block shorteners. Some funny people put in goatse.

jg

 

Example: here's the tinyURL of your long link:

No one in his right mind trusts URL shorteners, no matter who sent them.

 

You needn't trust - it's trivially easy to verify.

Of course, what you get is an expanded URL, just like the one you would
have seen in the absence of a tiny URL. But you still have to figure
out whether to trust the long version.

Basically, your remark was silly...

 

That's nice, but then everybody would have to know every such
preview trick for every URL shortener system in existence.

I agree that they should not be used at all.

Hans-Georg

 

At least with tinyurl, you can go to the site (http://tinyurl.com/) and
tell it that you always want to use preview.

 

Don't forget what I said upthread: even a full URL can lead to bad
things

Sometimes I post both the tinyURL and the full URL, sometimes I use the
preview form, and sometimes I choose not to worry about the people who
can't or won't trust me.