First, let’s start by acknowledging that the law prohibits all non-driving activity while you are behind the wheel and you should always practice safe driving practices. Having said this, it’s almost a given that most people have a special desire to enhance their driving experience with in-car gadgets. Here are 5 of our favorite must-haves:
Hands-free speaker or Bluetooth connectivity
We are all clear about the law. In-car phone conversations are still going to happen, so how about ensuring that safety is still priority #1? You can easily connect your phone to your in-car speaker or Bluetooth connection and place your phone safely out of reach, while still being able to multitask a few phone conversations into your morning commute.
GPS
Whether you prefer your trusty standalone satellite navigation system, like Tom Tom or Garmin or you now rely on an in-phone app, like Google Maps or Waze, your global positioning service (GPS) go-to can help you time-manage your errands, giving travel time estimations and offer detour suggestions. GPS units and programs have become so much more efficient and accurate. The only time this really isn’t completely reliable is when you are driving in a remote place, without access to your phone network.
Charger cable
How many times do you find yourself with one line of battery power remaining on your phone and you don’t have a portable charger cable? Worse yet, seems no one in a hundred-mile vicinity has a charger cable for the phone or device you have? Buy a spare; keep it in the car. Charge up your phone or device while you are commuting. All charged up…you’ll be good to go all day.
Headrest DVD players
This is a must-have if you have pint-sized travelers in the backseat. A portable headrest DVD player is a whole lot cheaper than having a hardwired unit installed after-market, either one will do though. Play CDs and DVDs for the little ones to make car rides a whole lot more enjoyable for everyone, especially on long car rides.
Dash camera recorder
In an emergency, you need to be armed with this little doo-dad. A dash camera (cam) recorder takes a picture of the road and has a built-in microphone. Hoping you’ll never need it, but in case of a collision (or worse) you will be thankful that you have a record of what happened, to easily track the situation.
