The GPS Insider

You read that right. Under current Quebec law (Article 439 of the Highway Safety Code) it is currently prohibited to have a television or other screen displaying information that a motorist can directly or indirectly see while driving. But according the the Montreal Gazette, the highway code is expected to be modified by the end of 2007, thanks to a decade-long fight by Quebec’s cabbies to make GPS legal for taxis. According to the paper, Montreal police have issued 190 tickets for this kind of violation since 2003. Welcome to the 21st century, Québecois!

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Spain’s federal traffic authority, the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT), is considering fines for drivers caught programming a GPS navigation unit while driving. The DGT recently launched a media campaign to warn drivers about the hazards of distractions while driving, such as smoking, talking on a mobile phone, or programming a GPS navigation unit. In 2006, the DGT estimates such distractions figured in 30 percent of traffic accidents. During the summer that percentage typically rises to nearly 50 percent. The campaign cites Navteq estimates that some 1.3 million portable navigation units were sold in Spain during 2006. If the driver is distracted while programming a navigation unit—DGT suggests that this process can take as long as 30 seconds—traffic conditions can quickly change and result in a major accident.

Following the launch of this media campaign warning Spanish drivers about distractions, the head of the DGT, Pere Navarro, said that the DGT is considering a policy of fining drivers €300 ($415) and the loss of three driving points if caught programming a navigation unit while driving, according to Spanish media reports.

Navarro also said the DGT has corresponded with the makers of navigation units, asking them to be designed so that they could not be programmed while the vehicle is in motion. He acknowledged that it would take time for the industry to respond, and that in the meantime the fines would suffice.

[DGT press release: warning PDF]

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Personal navigation device (PND) maker TomTom made an announcement this morning about plans to acquire Tele Atlas, the #2 provider of digital map data. TomTom said it would pay 21.25 euros ($29.33) per share for the Netherlands-based Tele Atlas. The offer was a 28 percent premium to Tele Atlas’ closing price on Friday. TomTom is the world’s leading PND manufacturer, with market share in Europe of just under 50 percent and around 20 percent in the United States.

Tele Atlas has deals to provide map data to TomTom, Qualcomm and Nokia, while Garmin, Google, Yahoo and AOL’s MapQuest use mostly Navteq. But the bigger companies use at least some information from both, and analysts say they have an interest in ensuring neither Navteq nor Tele Atlas becomes too dominant at geo-mapping information.

This show isn’t over yet - some analysts commented that TomTom’s offer is low and that a counteroffer could come from someone like Google. Navteq, the leading provider of map data, is considered an unlikely bidder for anti-competitive reasons. Tele Atlas management supports the deal and is talking to shareholders, but a tiny breakup fee of €20 million ($27.6M) could make them change their tune if something better comes along.

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This reads like a modern-day version of Ulysses and the Sirens. A 37 year-old German trucker was looking for the factory where he was scheduled to drop off his cargo, ignored several no entry signs and turned onto a narrow pedestrian lane in broad daylight, police in the Swiss Lucerne region said.

“He obstinately followed the female voice of the navigation system and drove another 300 meters until the lane came to an end,” they added.

Workers with chainsaws had to help after the driver tried to reverse out, damaging two lamp posts and a hedge before getting stuck in the cherry tree. He was fined 650 Swiss francs (US $540).

[via Physorg]

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