Hang up and Drive - 07/05/2001
Digital Living: Hang Up (the Mirror) and Drive
By Zillah Bahar of TheStandard.com
New York's ban on the use of handheld phones while driving may have the telecommunications industry in a snit. But it comes as welcome news to an auto-parts maker called Gentex.
It's not that the Zeeland, Mich.-based company - whose customers include Detroit's Big Three auto makers, plus BMW, Infiniti and Rolls Royce - is taking a stand on the merits of the controversial accident-prevention measure, which passed June 28. What Gentex senior VP Garth Deur does hope is that the anti-handheld law, which affects 6 million cell phone customers in New York state, would stimulate the market for cars with the kinds of hands-free wireless devices that Gentex has integrated into its flagship product, an electrochromic mirror that dims automatically to prevent drivers from being blinded by reflected headlight beams. The module comes with a number of features including a digital compass, alarm display, tire-pressure indicator, OnStar global positioning system and, perhaps most importantly these days, a hands-free cellular phone.
* External Link to The Standard.com
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