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> Why not? What's wrong with modifying your infotainment system for example? A lot of infotainment systems lock out some features when the car is moving. For e

> Why not? What's wrong with modifying your infotainment system for example? A lot of infotainment systems lock out some features when the car is moving. For example, watching a DVD on the dashboard screen of a moving car is not normally possible. People share workarounds for that kind of thing on car enthusiast forums. If someone removed restrictions from their infotainment system, and they were involved in an accident while using that system, it might come up if the matter went to court.

JohnFen 7y ago
It might, yes, but that doesn't mean that making that modification is illegal (it's not). It could be brought up in court as piece of a larger effort to show negligence or actual lawbreaking. For instance, in my state it's entirely legal to have a video system that is capable of showing video that is visible to the driver, but it's entirely illegal to use that system in a way that makes the video visible to the driver. So while having the system installed is legal, it could also be a piece of a larger collection of evidence showing wrongdoing.
- dragonwriter 7y ago
  > It might, yes, but that doesn't mean that making that modification is illegal (it's not). Using the modified device where the public vehicle code applies might be, even if making the modification, alone, is not strictly illegal. (For instance use of the device so modified would be illegal on a public road in California, where it would violate the screen use law, which only allows screen use if it has a lockout of all but specified allowed functions while the vehicle is moving. Note that under the text, even if only the functions permitted while a vehicle is in operation are actually used, it would still violate the law to use the device if the lockout was disabled so that it was possible to use other functions.) Cal. Vehicle Code § 27602.

JohnFen 7y ago

It might, yes, but that doesn't mean that making that modification is illegal (it's not). It could be brought up in court as piece of a larger effort to show negligence or actual lawbreaking. For instance, in my state it's entirely legal to have a video system that is capable of showing video that is visible to the driver, but it's entirely illegal to use that system in a way that makes the video visible to the driver. So while having the system installed is legal, it could also be a piece of a larger collection of evidence showing wrongdoing.

dragonwriter 7y ago
> It might, yes, but that doesn't mean that making that modification is illegal (it's not). Using the modified device where the public vehicle code applies might be, even if making the modification, alone, is not strictly illegal. (For instance use of the device so modified would be illegal on a public road in California, where it would violate the screen use law, which only allows screen use if it has a lockout of all but specified allowed functions while the vehicle is moving. Note that under the text, even if only the functions permitted while a vehicle is in operation are actually used, it would still violate the law to use the device if the lockout was disabled so that it was possible to use other functions.) Cal. Vehicle Code § 27602.