Monday, Sep 01, 2014 at 08:47
It may not be difinative or the absolute letter of the law but two principles cover it.
#Stuff can be mounted or stuck to the windscreen outside the area swept by the wipers.
#Stuff can be mounted or stuck where it does not obstruct the drivers view as the vehicle was manufacturered.
If you sit in the drivers
seat and look out the windscreen, if your view is limited by the bonnet and guard structure, but the windscreen extends below that..you can mount there.
From memory....there was an allowance of 100mm or 4 inches from the top of the windscreen...not sure if that is current.
Outside of that you may be able to argue in some cases....but mostly not.
You can start with the requirement to see the road surface a certain distance from the front bumper ( cant remember the distance..its in the ARDs)..if you are short your car may be marginal for this to begin with.
It has never been legal to hang anything from the rearvision mirror.
mounting sat nav in the middle of the windscreen has been very prominantly mentioned as clearly illegal and an obstruction to vision.
The generally recommended location for GPS units is in the very bottom left of the windscreen.
I have my sat nav mounted bottom centre of the windscreen..right down hard on the dash.....if I am sitting up straight as I should be, I can see the top of my bullbar over it.
That is on the basis of visability....then there are the issues of unrestrained objects, interiour protrubances and interaction with airbags.
remember they replaced metal with plastic in dash boards because it does not smash your skull as
well...think about that when mounting stuff.
And if you have dash or pillar mounted airbags, they may turn your GPS into a missile that could come and smack you in the face.
All these devices come with mounts that seem quick and easy......but you may
well find in some vehicles there IS NO safe and leagl place to mount these things.
About 15 years ago I installed equipment and wired service bodies for a couple of companies that supplied government departments.
Let me tell you there where pages in the spec telling you where you could and could not mount things.....pretty
well nothing above the line of the dash.
cheers
AnswerID:
538453
Follow Up By: Freshstart - Monday, Sep 01, 2014 at 09:25
Monday, Sep 01, 2014 at 09:25
Too true about the airbags Bantam.
And it doesn't even have to be the device which is stuck in front of the bags. Any cable would very likely rip the stuff off the windscreen and throw the object around the car like a missile when the bags go off.
Some people would argue that the cables are only loosely plugged in and they would come out easily. So you get hit in the middle of the head with a tiny plug at the huge speed of the bag exploding. That is enough to worry me let alone if the device itself was also ripped off the dash/windscreen.
I wonder how many people have their CB microphone lead hanging over the dash as
well.
This is a huge argument for in-dash mounted GPS navigation devices.
FollowupID:
822942
Follow Up By: Member - Munji - Monday, Sep 01, 2014 at 09:32
Monday, Sep 01, 2014 at 09:32
Most States have what they call a Road Traffic Code. Most likely online these days, suggest you have a read on what state is applicable to you. It is not as stated in this
forum something that the
Police dont like. It is documented in the code and carries a penalty.
Maybe get your wife to drive and put the GPS on the passenger side, now that would be interesting.
FollowupID:
822943
Follow Up By: The Bantam - Monday, Sep 01, 2014 at 09:47
Monday, Sep 01, 2014 at 09:47
We pretty
well have consistent rules nationwide due to the national traffic code and the Austrailan Design Rules.
But different states are narky about different things.
seems people can get away with lights mounted on top of the bullbar in WA....most certainly not tolerated in the eastern states.
Its both a visual obstruction and a non permitted protrubance/ danger to pedestrians.
Yes all the states publish "popular guides", but that is all they are not law.
In general what I posted above is nationwide and derives from ADR compliance.
cheers
FollowupID:
822945
Follow Up By: Freshstart - Monday, Sep 01, 2014 at 14:14
Monday, Sep 01, 2014 at 14:14
Whether you get away with it or not could also be a case of what the "
Police are targeting" signs say.
Maybe they don't bother targeting it until you;
have an accident or,
are pulled over by the RTA or,
go over the pits.
Even then it could depend on a myriad of human traits, practices or just plain old couldn't be bothered with such a small matter syndrome. and the inspector got a knock back the night before.
Personally we just like as good a view as we can get. Especially for all the close in driving that we do a lot of up in the high alpine country tight and narrow tracks.
I must admit that a good clear view would be very handy in the cities as
well, after all, you can't claim the points if you hit a pedestrian that you didn't see, now could you. That would be cheating.
FollowupID:
822954