What do the states of Minnesota and California have in common? Tick tick tick tick…
Give up? Up until fairly recently, it was illegal to put a GPS on your windshield in those states. Imagine buying a new GPS with the suction mount and getting pulled over a few days later for using the mount in the box. We got all kinds of stories from people after their wallet was $100 lighter and sold a lot of vent, cup holder and dash mounts as a result.
Luckily, lawmakers have mulled things over in California. In 2010, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law Senate Bill 1567, the GPS Windshield Safety Act (we didn’t make that up) which permits the mounting of portable GPS units in specific areas of vehicle windshields. The law stipulates that a California driver can place the GPS in the 5-inch square windshield area all the way to the lower left of the driver. Well unfortunately that excludes the most common place to put a GPS which is right smack in the middle of the windshield. So we still sell a lot of non suction mounts to California customers!
Meanwhile, Minnesota passed an equally useful law in 2006 known as Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 169.71, subdivision 1. The law states that it’s ok to use your windshield as the mount point as long as it’s on the bottom portion.
Are these reasons to move out of California or Minnesota? Probably not, but it sure is nice to be able to stick your GPS wherever you like in the great state of New Jersey!
Vent Mount for Most Garmin GPS
TomTom Cup Holder Mount
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