The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has granted a waiver to allow drivers and carriers to mount a GPS on the windshield within the areas allowed for âvehicle safety technologyâ devices.
Traditional Trucking Corporation, in its application in March, stated GPS devices are âapproximately the same size as the currently allowed âvehicle safety technologiesâ mounted on the windshieldâ and added that the dash âis not suitable for mounting the fixture to hold the GPS unitâ and the location of the unit if mounted on the dash is in the same area that safety technology is currently allowed.
The five-year waiver applies to any motor carrier mounting a GPS on the windshield. The waiver allows the mounting of GPS devices no more than four inches below the upper edge of the area swept by windshield wipers and no more than 7 inches above the lower edge swept by windshield wipers would not obstruct the driversâ view of the road.
FMCSA adds that it âstrongly encouragesâ drivers using GPS devices under this waiver to minimize or avoid distraction by programming the device before driving, stopping to reprogram the device if necessary and enabling the voice command on the device instead of muting it to avoid glancing at the display.
