Maurice Kinal wrote in a message to Charles Angelich:

 MK> Hello Charles.

 MK> 05 Sep 03 16:03, you wrote to me:

 CA> I saw the Cadillac version of this when it was first introduced
 CA> at an auto show and it appeared to be a 'no brainer' to me?

 MK> And if it tells you to make a right turn where obviously there
 MK> isn't a right turn are you going to make that turn?  A 'no brainer'
 MK> might.  I've seen people do sillier things in a car. 

Just in the past couple of days there was an incident around here where a
drunk woman decided that it was time for her to go out to the "state
store" and get some more.  So she did,  and ended up driving her car
right _into_ the store -- through a brick wall.

 MK> Also consider that cellphones are already cited as a big 
 MK> distraction to drivers what do you suppose a fancy map is going to 
 MK> do?  Mind you I've seen, and sheepishly admit to doing in the 
 MK> past, maps unfolded by drivers trying to figure out where the heck 
 MK> they are and where they are going, which takes the attention away 
 MK> from what should be the top priority at that moment.

I've seen lots of bumper stickers saying things like "hang up and
_drive_" but yesterday was the first time I saw this other one.  It
said "would you drive any better with that cell phone up your
butt?"  :-)  I can understand the sentiment there,  for sure.

 MK> Seeing I cannot afford a Cadillac, not entirely sure I'd buy one if
 MK> I could afford it, I think I'll be keeping an eye open if I
 MK> encounter on of these sharing the road.  ;-)

We had one,  got it for free basically.  And got rid of it when we could. 
It wasn't a bad car,  but way too much emphasis on the "glitz"
and way too expensive to fix when anything went wrong with it,  like trying
to figure out which of four different electronic modules was the problem
when the heat stopped working in the middle of winter...

 MK> Overall I like the idea of GPS, moving maps thingies despite what I
 MK> say above.  I am not sure which would be a greater threat to
 MK> safety, an unfolded map or a digital display.  Someone who
 MK> understands basic navigation skills in the passenger seat might
 MK> come in handy.

Traveling with a navigator is always good.  Otherwise,  I don't see a major
problem with pulling over to the side of the road to get a good visual load
on what the map is telling me.  Unless it's *really* horrendous weather
conditions,  in which case I'm very unlikely to be out traveling in the
first place,  much less trying to get to somewhere I don't know.

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