The Dangers Of Using An IPod While Driving. You’ve probably heard plenty about the dangers of texting and driving. You may have even been involved in an accident that was caused by a distracted driver. Many states have attempted to prevent this problem by passing laws prohibiting drivers from doing certain actions while on the road. Thirty nine states, for example, completely ban all texting by drivers. Thirty four states ban all talking on cell phones by novice drivers. While calling and texting are certainly big problems, they are not the only actions at fault for distracted driving. Using an IPod in the car can also distract the driver from what’s in front of him or her on the road.
Almost everyone is guilty of doing it. You are driving down the freeway and suddenly realize you are sick of the song playing through your speakers. You want to change it to that new album you just bought. In order to do so however, you have to take your eyes off the road, pick up the IPod, scroll through the artists, select the album, and find the song.
Many people now choose to use IPods in their cars rather than listen to the radio or put in CD’s. This is no surprise as IPods are small and convenient. You don’t have to filter through radio stations to get through the junk and find a song you like. You can start a song from the beginning and listen to it all the way through, even several times if you want. IPods trump CD’s because you don’t have to carry around that big CD case, or risk dropping an album between the seats where it will be lost forever.
Studies however have shown that changing songs on an IPod while driving can have the same effects that talking on a cell phone does. It causes deviation from the center of a lane, speed changes, and following too closely behind other vehicles.
This isn’t to say that you should never use an IPod while driving, only that you should use it responsibly. Here are some defensive driving tips you can use while listening to your favorite songs and staying safe on the road:
- Pick out an album or playlist before you ever start driving. If you know you are in for a long drive pick a playlist you know will last that long.
- If you are sick of the song that is playing don’t try to change songs while you are driving. It will greatly increase your chances of being in an accident.
- If you are travelling with a passenger tell them to change the song for you.
- Never tailgate a car, especially of you are handling an IPod. If you put your head down for a couple of seconds that may be all it takes to slam into the back of the car in front of you.
- Never watch movies, TV shows, or any type of video while you are driving.
- Always buckle up.
John Carver is a freelance writer for DefensiveDriving.com. He enjoys listening to music and working on his cars.
Check Out These Too:
- Installing iPad in the Car Dashboard - Is that iCar? Installing iPad in the Car. Taking the rich media at any place is the best fun about the iPad as well as in your car. Now there is a farewell about…
- Guide on iPhone Car Integration iPhone car integration has now become a very easy job. Almost all car manufacturers are now offering their clients the possibility to integrate their iPhone into their driving experience. This…
- How to fix error message E5 Canon printer How to fix error message E5 Canon printer Possible causes of this error are : * Ink cartridge is not installed correctly * Ink cartridge was installed incorrectly ( the…
- Text n' Drive Lite for the iPhone First there was the DriveSafely app and now, for those who want some variety in their driving safety, there's the Text n' Drive app for the iPhone. This app works…
- Apple iPod Touch to iPhone Converter to be released… A converter for the Apple iPod Touch is set to be released in the United States this week. This converter is said to be able to turn your iPod Touch…
- iPod Problems: What are These? Many would say the fact that the iPod is small, which makes it really advantageous. However, some people on the other hand would consider that the increased mobility of these…
- Happy Star Rewards for the iPod Touch If you love Carl's Jr. or Hardee's Jr. chains, then you might want to think about downloading the Happy Star Rewards app for the iPod Touch. With this app you…
- Apple Allow Printing on iPhone/iPod Touch The iPod Touch and the iPhone devices from apple are some of the most advanced devices out there today and now, Apple are going to introduce something new to the…
- Why Apple Steer Clear of AT&T If you have owned one of Apple’s beloved iPhone devices at some point in the past in the United States, then there is a chance that you will have had…
- iPod Touch Microphone - Make Your iPod Touch… The iPod touch has a lot of handy features in it, especially for something that is basically a music player at it’s core. They’ve included a lot of extra things…
- Common iPhone Problems What Are The Common iPhone Problems? There is certainly no perfect phone in the market. Various consumers have various wants and needs in a phone. For most people, what happens…
- How to get the iPhone 5 Before Someone Else? If you are looking to get your hands on the latest product from Apple before anyone else, then you will have to pre-order the phone before it is even released.…
- Need to Repair or Replace the Back of your iPod… One of the most common problems with the iPod Touch and the iPhone is that the screen sometimes get cracked. But there's another problem that sometimes occurs with the casing…
- iPod Touch Help Support iPod Touch, offering from Apple comes in three models, categorized according to the storage capacity, it comes with 8 GB, 16 GB and 32 GB models. Apart from having a…
- Queen of England Wants iPad 2 Apple’s iPad has been one of the biggest selling products for the company yever and it is the second egenration of the original iPad product that completely changed the computer…
- Zillow Real Estate App for iPod Touch If you're looking for a home to rent or buy, or you're in real estate, then you might want to download the Zillow Real Estate app for the iPod Touch.…
- Apple iPhone and iPod Touch gets Alarm System Bug As many of you might have already discovered, many of the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch devices have been suffering a problem in the recent couple of weeks. Apple’s iPhone…
- Apple iPad 2 on Sale Today Following the release of the original iPad from Apple last year, they have now created the fantastic iPad 2 device which is packed with new features. Apple announced the release…
- Dragon Dictation for the iPhone Do you often find that you need to write an email, but just don't have the time to do it? Or maybe you're driving in the car and need to…
- Apple release iOS 4.2 Update for iPhone and iPad Apple is always striving to improve the usability of their products and often, they release new version of the firmware that runs on the devices in order to improve the…
- Apple iPad 2 Supplies Starting to Improve Ever since the release of the Apple iPad 2 in many countries around the world in the last month or so, there has been a huge shortage of the devices.…
- Simple Financial Management For iPod Touch Users: Pennies With a well-earned reputation as one of the best budgeting apps on the iPod Touch, Pennies can easily end up as a crucial component of your personal financial management. In…
- Apple Sues Motorola Over Technology Apple is one of the world’s most well known and largest companies that produce a huge amount of electronic equipment. Over the past few years, they have become an extremely…
- iPad Screen Shaking Issue iPad Screen Shaking Issue - There are different ways on how your iPad’s screen could shake. It could look like you are doing a lot of touches and tapping. Some…
- Need Help Getting Your iPod Apps to Work? There's a common problem among iPod Touch users and the apps that they want to use on their iPod. Of course, the apps are the best part, so we definitely…
- Apple Pulls Fake Drivers License App Apple has yet again pulled a popular app from the official App Store after complaints from some powerful people. This time the app in question was called "Drivers License" and…
- Apple to Launch iAd Service in UK and Europe As some of you might already know, one of the things that have been a huge success for Apple in the United States is their iAd service. This is basically…
- 7 Must Have iPhone Apps for your Car Must Have iPhone Apps for Car Owners With the world gearing up for the release of the next iPhone 5, many Apple fans are looking to the app store to…
- How to Zoom Out on the iPod Touch Recently, many of our readers have been writing in with the same problem: their iPod Touch has zoomed in, and they can't zoom it back out. The Touch still seems…
- How to Fix And Repair Broken iPod? Broken iPod could be happen to anyone who have an iPod. Broken iPod could be caused by Water damage by accident, the screen blacked out, your ipod break out because…
You may be aware that the PA Legislature recently enacted a law that prohibits texting while driving. That prohibition is set to take effect soon. However, many do not know that it is now illegal to drive while wearing headphones. It doesn’t even matter that you may not be listening to anything at the time.
Terry,Thanks for your comment.It’s true that many legislators aren’t “smart” enough to pass the kind of laws we actually need. It is really up to us, the People, to make sure that we get the message across to our representatives about what kind of laws we want, don’t want, and—more importantly—need and don’t need. If they don’t listen to our letters and phone calls, they’ll have to listen at the ballot box.I do question your remark about “too much power”, though. I think that my proposition reduces those very kinds of situations; it replaces “Your Honor, he was texting.” “No I wasn’t!” with something that, as you say, could potentially be backed up with dashcam video. Even without video, the word of the police officer would be treated just as it presently is for speeding tickets, red light and stop sign infractions, or failures to use a turn signal. Sure, the driver can always contest the citation, just like now, but probably with limited success.Again, my approach is to legislate the clearly observable driving behavior, not the more private and less-visible driver behavior.