This one could have ended much worse.
We were recently on our way to visit family. We were driving through Ohio with about 10 miles/10 minutes to go until getting to the Dayton supercharger. We had about 40 miles left on the battery so plenty to spare. The nav was active and we don't have autopilot.
We get a phone call and at first all I needed to do was listen but pretty quickly it became a participatory call and my vision focused on the road and traffic while my ears paid attention to the call. The call lasted about 20 minutes or so.
When the call terminated, I glanced down at the nav and noticed 2 parallel blue lines, which has happened before and which I know to mean turn around. And I start to wonder how I missed the exit and immediately go to road construction which was previously around the Dayton exit. But then I quickly notice the red nav warning that I am out of charging range. I have 18 miles of charge and 18 miles to go to get to the Dayton supercharger. So I immediately slow down and begin to look for a crossing in the median. Luck is on my side and one appears less than a mile after my dilemma presents and I turn around and begin heading back to Dayton, picking up 5 miles of buffer by using the median.
I begin to realize that because I was talking on the phone, the nav directions were silenced and because I was paying attention to the road I wasn't paying attention to the visual nav cues. I'd missed the supercharger exit and continued to drive down the highway. If the call had gone on 10 minutes longer, I'm pretty sure I would have been stranded.
I'm not one to normally do calls in the car, though the bluetooth is very convenient. I'd also be the first to say that driving and talking on the phone aren't the optimal mix. In normal circumstances, I would have pulled over or told the caller I'd call them back. We were only 10 minutes away from Dayton and an extended charge so it wouldn't have been a big deal.
So, for those that don't know it yet, the phone overrides the nav directions when you're on a call. But more importantly, as the driver you need to be focused on getting safely to your destination. Heed this cautionary tale and learn from someone that almost got in a mess of trouble doing something you really shouldn't do when driving.
It's like I tell my friends with email - if you need more than a few sentences, you're better off calling the person. With driving and calling, if you need more than a few minutes, you're better off pulling over or calling back.
We were recently on our way to visit family. We were driving through Ohio with about 10 miles/10 minutes to go until getting to the Dayton supercharger. We had about 40 miles left on the battery so plenty to spare. The nav was active and we don't have autopilot.
We get a phone call and at first all I needed to do was listen but pretty quickly it became a participatory call and my vision focused on the road and traffic while my ears paid attention to the call. The call lasted about 20 minutes or so.
When the call terminated, I glanced down at the nav and noticed 2 parallel blue lines, which has happened before and which I know to mean turn around. And I start to wonder how I missed the exit and immediately go to road construction which was previously around the Dayton exit. But then I quickly notice the red nav warning that I am out of charging range. I have 18 miles of charge and 18 miles to go to get to the Dayton supercharger. So I immediately slow down and begin to look for a crossing in the median. Luck is on my side and one appears less than a mile after my dilemma presents and I turn around and begin heading back to Dayton, picking up 5 miles of buffer by using the median.
I begin to realize that because I was talking on the phone, the nav directions were silenced and because I was paying attention to the road I wasn't paying attention to the visual nav cues. I'd missed the supercharger exit and continued to drive down the highway. If the call had gone on 10 minutes longer, I'm pretty sure I would have been stranded.
I'm not one to normally do calls in the car, though the bluetooth is very convenient. I'd also be the first to say that driving and talking on the phone aren't the optimal mix. In normal circumstances, I would have pulled over or told the caller I'd call them back. We were only 10 minutes away from Dayton and an extended charge so it wouldn't have been a big deal.
So, for those that don't know it yet, the phone overrides the nav directions when you're on a call. But more importantly, as the driver you need to be focused on getting safely to your destination. Heed this cautionary tale and learn from someone that almost got in a mess of trouble doing something you really shouldn't do when driving.
It's like I tell my friends with email - if you need more than a few sentences, you're better off calling the person. With driving and calling, if you need more than a few minutes, you're better off pulling over or calling back.