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Drivers, Tune In Next Time

John Valenti

May 14, 2003

Stopped at a traffic light in New York City a month or so ago, I was shocked to see the driver of the minivan alongside me watching TV. A house beat was on the stereo. A music video was on a small television monitor in the dashboard.

It was a scene that somehow made me think of someone stretched out in an easy chair in their living room. A soda in the drink holder, a burger and some fries on the seat. A video on the TV. It made me wonder how a driver could concentrate on the real task at hand: driving.

But, in case you think this is an isolated incident, think again. Because a handful of audio-video technicians interviewed said last week their stores are installing scores of monitors a week in vehicles across Long Island. And not for satellite navigation systems, but for DVD players and PlayStation2 game systems. And not just for passengers.

But for drivers.

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Those monitors and video game systems are no longer confined to the backseats of trucks, vans and automobiles -- but are now making their way into the front seat. Into the dashboard.

Police have yet to record their first case of "Death by DVD" on Long Island. But you have to figure it is coming. If using hand-held cell phones, despite laws that prohibit it, as well as eating, reading and doing other things behind the wheel can cause distracted driving -- and, experts say, fatal accidents -- then it only makes sense that watching television would pose a greater risk.

"It would be foolish to say that people are only using these things while they're parked in a parking lot," said Terry Jackson, editor-in-chief of NOPI Street Performance Compact, a magazine featuring specialty-tuning tips for cars like those featured in the movie "The Fast and the Furious." As Jackson said: "While I have trouble believing someone might have PlayStation on playing 'Matrix' while driving down the expressway at 70 miles an hour, you do have to wonder what they might be doing in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Santa Monica Freeway or the Long Island Expressway."

The newest craze in automobile technology -- the one which would seem to negate a host of the safety advances we've made in vehicle design -- has its roots in the advent of in-dash satellite navigation systems. While most of those systems are designed to function in audio-only mode or not at all when a vehicle is in gear, most DVD and game systems can be used when a vehicle is moving.

Under state law, a television monitor -- either on or off -- cannot be within viewing range of a driver. But, since most of the screens are retractable -- or come with covers -- and have multiple purposes, installation is legal and its legal or illegal usage decided by the driver. Illegal usage is an equipment violation and punishable only by a summons of $30, with a $20 surcharge. A conviction carries no points on your license.

"Is a TV in the dashboard a violation, even if it's turned off?" Sgt. Lou Dini of the Suffolk County Highway Patrol said. "I would certainly say so, since the dash was designed to be viewed by the driver." Still, hundreds of monitors are being installed in those dashboards every month on Long Island.

A salesman at Audio Planet on Route 110 in Huntington said his store does 10 to 15 installations a month, but store policy requires customers to be warned not to use the systems while driving. "A lot of our customers are kids, who might want to hang out in a parking lot with their friends and watch a movie, a music video or play PlayStation," said the salesman, who asked not to be named. "We inform them that a TV in the dash in not for the driver while driving."

Asked if he thought some of those buyers might be using systems while driving, he said: "Well, you can't account for people." Most major manufacturers sell in-dash systems. The prices range from $300 for an inexpensive flip-down monitor to more than $2,500 for a retractable motorized in-dash screen. Some monitors mounted in headrests and seatbacks for rear-seat passengers are larger than an 11-inch diagonal, while most in-dash monitors are between 5.6 and 7 inches.

Most of the systems, said Martin Hodgson, of Crankin Car Stereo on Route 112 in Patchogue, are installed in so-called "Garage Queens" or "Trailer Queens." That is, show cars, which are seldom driven. His store does at least five installations a week and he said his show car -- a 1987 Monte Carlo SS, the official NASCAR pace car model -- has four monitors: a motorized retractable 7-inch screen in the dash, two 6-inch screens in the headrests and an 11-inch screen in the trunk to be used when parked. His daily driver, a 2001 Mitsubishi Galant, has a dashboard-mounted navigation and DVD system, as well as headrest-mounted screens. But Hodgson said he never uses the video screen while driving. His screen pivots, so it can be viewed only by a passenger, not him.

"The bottom line," Hodgson said, "is if you're watching a movie or watching TV behind the wheel, then you're a distracted driver. You might as well be Stevie Wonder driving down the road."