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We need to have cars that WON'T LET US use our outside tech devices when we're in the driver's seat. That kind of design functionality would HELP this problem. Also, in-dash GPS and the like, it's hurting more than it's helping IMO. 10 years ago, no one had this stuff. Look at a map people, or better yet, know where you're going!!!

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Absolutely not. These "restrictive" vehicle systems are horrible, for the simple fact that they don't distinguish between driver and passenger. Being in some more modern vehicles which do exactly as you say is infuriating when you have to ask your passenger -- instead of pulling up the GPS turn-by-turn on the large in-dash screen -- to instead pull out the iPhone 5 because the nav won't let you set a waypoint while you're in "drive".

Artificially restricting controls only results in a user bypassing those controls in some way, which could do more harm than good (e.g. forcing you use your phone instead).

I'm not sure that advising someone to look at a map is much better -- a paper map obscures a lot more of the road, and looking at it to figure out not just where the hell you are but also where you are trying to go seems a bit worse than an on-dash GPS that shows the former, and hopefully has been configured with the latter.

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