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 drive and text in Minnesota. But what about other cell phone distractions like using your navigation app or other apps that require you to provide information, or look at the screen?

"It's a murky gray area, to say the least," 

"Driver safety advocates have been calling for more clarity from federal regulators. That's why, tucked into the Obama administration's new transportation bill proposal, is a provision which would allow the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to set restrictions on app usage in cars, and possibly order changes if something like a mapping app is found to be dangerous," Gayomali adds.

The Transportation Department released voluntary guidelines for carmakers last year. The guidelines stipulate "that any navigation system should not take more than two seconds for a single interaction, and 12 seconds total," 

 the New York Times. "At 60 miles an hour, two seconds is 176 feet."

Today's Question: Should phone apps be regulated like text messaging for drivers?

Minnesota News

Today's Question Blog

Michael Olson

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You can’t drive and text in Minnesota. But what about other cell phone distractions like using your navigation app or other apps that require you to provide information, or look at the screen? “It’s a murky gray area, to say the least,” writes Fast Company’s Chris Gayomali. “Driver safety advocates have been calling for more…

Should phone apps be regulated like text messaging for drivers?

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