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How to Deal with Media and MP3 Players while Driving

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I’m the same as you… I take my iPhone everywhere with me. I’m sure most of you have your phones and MP3 players in your cars with you, as well. We’ve all heard of the potential dangers of using these devices while driving. Here are some tips to help reduce your chance of problems.

  • Video Do not watch video!! If your eyes aren’t on the road then you are a danger. Save it for a cafe park or your living-room, although designed to be portable video players as well they were not designed to watched while driving.
  • Searching songs Searching for music while driving is as bad as watching videos, dont find yourself scrolling thru 1000’s of songs just to find the one you want to listen to at that time. If your drive time is 35-40 min I’m sure you can wait. This brings me to my next point.
  • Playlists Use playlists designed at home for certain moods, or make one of your favorite or top rated songs just for when you use the car. This can save you from skipping dozens of songs because you dont listen to them as often as those that would be in your playlist.
  • Preparation Have the device plugged in to the charger and audio input (device/cable) for your stereo, and have it secured in a place that is easily accessible while keeping you eyes on the road. A generic holder of some sort will usually do the trick and are inexpensive. Select your desired playlist before you start driving and if you really want to skip tracks try and do it at a stopped position like at the traffic lights. Also if possible try to have the backlight display set to constantly on, this will enable you to easily see any content at a glance rather than having to reach over each time to activate the screen.
  • Get help If you have a passenger ask them to change the music for you (Tough as it may be for those who dont like others controlling the music in their cars) If you have to focus on the road then its a better choice to get someone else to search music or skip songs. Note: if they really annoy you by constantly skipping tracks then you can always threaten to make them walk and follow tips 1 to 4.

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23 Comments

hey a chris pirillo video! sweet! i use a satallite radio for my driving needs.

Whoa first view.. Odd enough i was just thinking today when i would be the first person to view a video… weird…
Anyway, pretty good tips, common sense imo though.

In the UK it’s illegal to talk on your mobile phone while driving.
What are the laws in the US?

Here in Washington State where chris anf I both live just became the first state in U.S. to make txting illegal. Talking without a hands-free device is to become a law this spring.

Driver chooses the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole.

Amen.

Downloading music is now legal.

qtrax (dot) com

I agree that messing around with your gadgets while driving is not safe. I had a little problem with that a few years ago but then i got a radio that could control my portable device along with a remote so i wouldn’t even have to look at the screen to see what i was doing. Before i even go out i make a play list to hear what i want to and if that isn’t enough i’ll just skip the song until i hear one that i want to hear. It’s always fun hang around and chat with people even give a little advice if i know what is being talked about. later

Excellent tips tips, this is likely to become more and more of a problem as increasing numbers of mp3 players and other mobile gadgets leave the shelves. Once familiar with a particular player’s controls, I find changing the audio selection at stoplights to be rather trivial. For the road trippers who might not always have somewhere to stop, playlists are definitely the way to go and good playlist management is a key feature to pay attention to when shopping around for a portable audio device.

I think the day is fast approaching where we will be able to dictate the title of a song aloud (or even start singing it) and our devices will automatically locate, retrieve, and begin playing it.

Excellent tips, this is likely to become more and more of a problem as increasing numbers of mp3 players and other mobile gadgets leave the shelves. Once familiar with a particular player’s controls, I find changing the audio selection at stoplights to be rather trivial. For the road trippers who might not always have somewhere to stop, playlists are definitely the way to go and good playlist management is a key feature to pay attention to when shopping around for a portable audio device.

I think the day is fast approaching where we will be able to dictate the title of a song aloud (or even start singing it) and our devices will automatically locate, retrieve, and begin playing it.

blue tooth hands free kit

I’m not sure about the rest of America but at least in Oklahoma it’s illegal to be using headphones of any kind while driving(headsets are ok.)
Unless you mean an MP3 player hooked up to an FM transmitter so you can use your car radio.

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I always make up playlists. One of my favourite functions of iTunes is “smart” playlists. I use ones such as “top 100 played”, “recently added” and “recently played”. Sometimes I even set up ones that are made up of trecks that I listen to in the morning or after collee. The advantage of these are that they are dynamic and, after time, reflect your personality.

You can get a little FM transmitter if you don’t have an aux in for your car stereo. They have a standard headphone jack which plugs into the headphone socket and then you set an FM frequency and you set your radio to the frequency. Transmission range is about 10ft. Have a look for one on ebay. Other uses include computer to a hifi that has no input.

not just the other person, but animals, Moose, Deer, elk… the roaming gnome, however not the lockergnome :) However, I have had problems with elves, pesky little buggers.

yea I also use my iphone when im driving and I want to listen to my music and just like one of the tips says I have a playlist so I can listen to music that I want to listen to at that time and not have to keep looking at my iphone just to see what song it is or to change the song

i agree with those tips, last thing you want is a crash, you’ll have the risk of dying or badly injuring yourself, aswell as losing your mp3 player/ipod you’ll lose yourself.

your better of lisening to the radio or just don’t lisen at all, you could sing.

yes he is a geek. but geeks are awesome no matter what jerks like you say. not to mention he’s cute and has a huge *** computer behind him. and he makes a really good point in this vid.

thanks for the tips Chris! they are very very useful. One thing that I would like to add is that just in case you can’t find a comfortable place to put your phone or device while driving, just please do not put it over your legs or your lap. This is because if you were to take a turn somewhere, it’s pretty likely that your phone might fall at your side because of the centripethal acceleration, and cause you to become distracted while looking for it. So please, put it somewhere it can be reached, and make sure that it doesn’t fall from there.

hehe I always wanted to say this “E ya later” :D

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