Please don't flame me on this ... I'm not advocating distracted driving ... this is mainly for passengers to be able to work with the Nav system while the driver pays attention to driving!

I just had this gizmo installed and am over the moon happy with it.

What this does ... it makes the infotainment/nav systems think you are stopped. All of the items that are greyed out while moving become accessible.

How it works... you click "hang up phone" on the steering wheel twice. For the next 3 minutes, the nav thinks you are stopped and your passenger can do whatever they need to do. If they finish before 3 minutes, click hang-up twice more and everything is back to normal.

The device plugs into the radio head unit, so theoretically it's an "easy" install, but I'm a total chicken about taking my new car apart, so I had it done professionally. Here in San Diego, Progressive Electronics did it in about an hour for $75.

So for a total of $250, my nav and other features are fully accessible.

http://www.vaistech.com/site/ulm.php

 

Good to know I have on of these on my 2006 Prius, though a different brand. I personally hate that Toyota/Lexus thinks we are incapable of doing anything on our own and making decisions to be safe. Though, from a legal standpoint I do see why they do it, though I still don't agree with it.

Thanks for posting the information.

Phil

 

Cool idea. Personally, if I need a quick address, I'll use my phone. I find that the nav is lacking and the voice command sucks lol

 

Sorry to hear about this. There are too many morons on the highway that don't need another distraction. I'd like to see some kind of texting block built in while the car is moving on all cell phones!

 

From the website:

Why would I want 3-minutes when it can be indefinitely?

 

See, I feel that I paid for an item, the NAV system in this case, and I should have full access to it at all times, not just when Toyota/Lexus feel it is OK to use. When I buy a Tom Tom or Garmin or any other portable NAV system they don't grey out the controls I can use them whenever I want. Though I do get your point, some people just don't know how to do it safely, but why punish everyone for the stupidity of a few.

Phil

 

I think this is good, providing the passenger is the one doing the NAV programming. It is better than what we have to do now. We have to find a safe place to pull off the road to make changes to the NAV system.

 

Hoovey- when you have the blocker activated, the Nav literally shows you as being stopped - it thinks you aren't moving. When you deactivate the blocker, the nav picks up where it left off and catches up.

Basically, the blocker stops the speed sensor data going to the nav, which makes the nav think you are stopped and opens up all the blocked functions.

Hope that helps explain a little.

 

Speaking as someone who was grazed while crossing the street because AN IDIOT was texting (and I mean, both hands on the phone, looking down the whole time), I completely agree. But that solution could also mean that passengers won't be able to txt, and that's a problem too. There's no way to legislate (we've tried in CA) good driving habits.

 

This lockout is why I bought an F sport with out Nav. Same with my wife Benz. As soon as we start moving you can only enter thing via voice command. With so many proper names for streets the Nav can never get it right. Google maps or Siri just work so much better. I even had a discussion with the Mercedes Benz Mbrace staff while my wife and I decided to look for a mexican restaurant while on a road trip. I asked why my passenger cannot use the navigation system while were driving. They said it cannot be used for safety reasons and I should stop and use it if needed. I told them that I felt stopping on the shoulder of a highway with 75mph traffic zipping by seemed unsafe to me. With that we canceled out subscription and my Lexus, which does the same thing does not have nav.

 

Nice to have but too much money for that one feature which I am sure most of us don't need often. Also keep in mind that this might cancel your warranty if you ever had electric problem.

 

Why spend so much money? Isn't there a wire that can be cut to have a switch spliced into it so it can be turned on and off anytime you want? Is there such wire?