Satnav in the US Question

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Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 9:15 am

I'll bring my Satnav to the US/Canada when I go on holiday. I know you're not allowed to put it on the windscreen in CA and MN but are there other states where that is illegal? I'll only have the suction cup fastening thingy with me so won't be able to put it on the dashboard (that's what I normally do).

Thanks.

Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 11:56 am

I would put it on the windsheild any way. most likely the cops wont do any thing and if its like with radar detectors some states they cant pull you over for it just because you have it. and if you did get pulled over and they say something use the old line " sorry officer, I was not aware of that, I not from here." and they will just tell you to remove it. and 5 miles down the road, you put it back up. Laughing

Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 1:13 pm

/\/\ A warning for anyone going to France - radar detectors will get you arrested on sight, and your car seized - no excuses, they are illegal.

Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 3:55 pm

This is the California situation-
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/23/2382.asp
Enforcement is very low priority as far as the CHP goes. I use an indash unit but also use a Garmin Nuvi 650 for rental cars. I attach the GPS to the drivers window between the dash airvent and the left side rear view mirror. It blocks my view of the "A" pillar and may affect the speaker there but does not obstruct any of my road view. The downside is that I cannot roll down the window or leave it attached. In most of Southern California, its not a good idea to leave the suction cup mount attached.

Edit-
If you are concerned while driving through MN, you might consider buying a few quid worth of Velcro. Put two strips of the loops on your GPS and two strips of hooks on the rental car dash. At the end of your ride, peel off the strips on the rental. Voila, back to normal. Make sure that your NAV has the US/CAN database.

Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 8:31 pm

I know its legal to have the Satnav/GPS unit in VA - no states i know ban them. But I doubt any officer will pull you over for it unless it was blocking your view completely.

HOWEVER Virginia and DC ban Radar Dectors (only two states/areas) - and in VA they have radar-detectors-detectors (and yes.. black market they sell radar-detector-detector-detectors) and they mask the signal so it cant be detected unless the copis in your car.

Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 10:02 pm

I have seen several ppl here in Indiana put the GPS on the drivers window rather than the front window. As far as I know it is not illegal to put them on the front window. I have one with suction cup mount and I place it on the front window center down as low as I can.

I ALWAYS take it off the window when I arrive to my destination as theft of these items is on the rise.

Make sure you DL the US/Canada maps from your GPS company's web site so you don't get here to the US and have no maps!

Also is the "power point" the same in the US as Europe so you can plug the unit into the "cigarette lighter" in the car?

Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 12:08 am

They are great but don't forget about the warning they distribute with them that they should not be your sole means of navigation.There was a news item last week about a party that got stranded in a very remote part of Utah,because they took a wrong turn based on their GPS system.They kept compounding the error by totally relying on it,and not consulting maps when it was obvious they were lost.If you are in a major urban area it won't make much difference,but if you get in a wildernes area it bears keeping in mind.

Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 12:21 am

What is a windscreen? Is that a windshield?

I am in California (you said you were going here?) and GPS devices are allowed to be on the windshield. Just don't let it obscure the driver vision.

Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 12:27 pm

@Connie L Gus and The Man

I've got the US and Canada maps for the GPS. (@docholiday I'll bring the normal road atlas too).

Hmm, I thought the "cigarette lighter" was the same in both North America and Europe but I've never paid any attention to that before getting the satnav.

Thanks for your help. I'll simply stick it to the drivers window unless I know it's legal to put it on the windscreen/windshield.

I'm going to take it on a little foreign road trip this weekend/early next week as we have a funeral (she was almost 101 so no biggie!) in The Netherlands early next week. Never used it outside of the UK before.

Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 3:37 pm

My:

Yeah I am not sure about the cigarette lighter. I know your "wall" power and ours are different, so don't blow up your hair dryer or electric shaver or whatever you are bringing that gets plugged into the wall! I don't think most US hotels are set up for dual US/European outlets like many good European hotels are.

Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 4:54 pm

The "power ports" are almost the same in cars all over the world now. The only difference is that fewer people actually use them to light cigarettes anymore so the car manufactures have downsized the copper conductors going to the plugs. Thats the reason you see them close to the floor and inside the consoles of cars and not next to an ash tray anymore. Plug in a cigarette lighter and a fuse will blow. The power requirements of a Sat/nav unit is very small compared to a cigarette lighter so no matter what, if there's a hole, you can plug it in. One of our cars has two power ports but no cigarette lighter. That's a two hundred dollar dealer installed option.

Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 8:46 pm

Yeah, my car does not even have an ash tray any more. The car I just got rid of did not either, but they had one as an OPTION. It was just a container you put in one of the cup holders....

Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 12:40 am

It has been many years since I worked on a car built for the UK market,so if this is silly these days my apologies.I know that I have seen UK vehicles that are wired in your terminology positive earth.All US vehicles are wired negative earth.As I say,If this is a thing of the past it is no problem,but if they are still built that way,make sertain your adapter is wired properly first.
You may now laugh at the old fart mechanic Laughing

Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 7:14 am

^^ Positive earth is something from really, really long ago (I think from the time animals could still speak and cars had 6-volt batteries).

Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 9:06 am

I'm not a sat nav person at all. I'd rather navigate by the stars. I've never had a problem just reading a map and they are free most of the time form real estate agents if your in a strange town. Road signs and a pre drive map check will generally get you close enough. My son had the roof of his soft top cut open in his driveway about a year ago. That's all they took. I did have one in the car a few years ago and the map was out of date it was funny listening to all the instructions when I was on a new tollway.

Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 12:17 pm

Harry:

Theft of the GPS units have become fairly common. I would never leave mine in the car overnight. I generally use it once a month or so when I am going somewhere I am not familiar with. I grab it and put it in the car at that time.

I can read a map and navigate very well with one, but the GPS is just so much more convenient. I check its route against a map though because the GPS has a desire to keep you on a major highway even if that means going way out of your way.

Also the one I have the time calculations are high by a factor of almost a third!

Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 1:15 pm

^^^ The Man and Connie L Gus

I used to live on your side of the pond so am well versed in the differences for normal power plugs and am only bringing my laptop along and that one runs happily anywhere with the right adapter. Will plug in the satnav and hope it works. Don't even know what kind of rental car I'll end up with this time... Maps are great (and I used to compete in orienteering as a kid so know how to use a map and compass!) but the satnav is the lazy way of doing things and I am not ashamed to admit that I'm happy to do things the easy/lazy way if possible! Smile

Thanks to all of you for the input!

Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 1:45 pm

In some of the crucial areas for a 'tourist', (Big cities) the GPS goes nuts.
Some real problem areas are big cities with road construction.....new highways...detours.... Often they can't differentiatie between paralell/service roads to major highways, and the major highway itself.
I have one of the Garmins and it loves to tell me to turn where there is no road, and then nags me worse than my old lady when I don't listen to it.

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