I'm a laptop guy. A computer geek all the way. I like my laptop better than the Garmin, too, because I can use it as an Atlas in addition to directions. But just because I like the laptop better doesn't make it safer than the Garmin. It's not.
Whether the laptop is in the passenger seat, on the desk I made in place of the passenger seat, on an Igloo cooler between the seats, or in a laptop stand at right in front of the radio, a standalone, dedicated GPS unit is far safer than a laptop, regardless of how much I looooooove my laptop. People who say otherwise are kidding themselves, and they know it.
This reminds me of people who state, unequivocally, that they are a good drivers, because they've never had an accident. Some of these people are the worst drivers on the planet.
A headset is safer than a hand held cell phone, right? Well, no, it's not, not really. Study after study has shown that reaction times with a headset is precisely the same as with a hand held, and both are the same as someone who is legally drunk. I prefer a headset, tho. Most do. But it's still not any safer than a hand held, except in that it frees up the other hand for the wheel in case of a need for emergency defensive driving. Your reaction times, even with the second hand on the wheel, will still suck, but when you eventually do react, having that second hand on the wheel may enable you to avoid a crash where only one hand might not.
So keep on telling yourself, and others, that it's merely a matter of how you use your stuff. If you like using your laptop for GPS, fine, keep using it. But don't try to fool yourself into thinking that it's safer than a standalone, 'cause it's not. It's merely cheaper. At best it's just as safe (or unsafe) as a standalone. Professing such foolishness that it's safer makes you look, well, there ya go.
Any distraction, be it a laptop or a standalone, is a distraction. So is eating and drinking, changing the channels on the radio, looking at video billboards, hooter shots (you go girl!) and the accident on the other side of the freeway. It's all a matter of how you use our stuff, right? Any distraction while driving is, by definition, distracted driving. A standalone GPS or a laptop GPS, they're both distracted driving. When used for strictly audio input for directions, both are about he same, and both are minimal distractions. But at all other times, the laptop requires more attention than the standalone, and anyone who has used both knows it, especially someone who uses both at the same time. So please, please, please don't come on here and say a laptop is safer than a standalone. It insults the intelligence of people who have any. If you want to use a laptop, then use it. If used wisely the distractions can be minimized. But don't try and defend it with silly notions about it actually being safer.
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