Defeating Distracted Driving: How to Use Your Phone Without Your Hands

With Governor Andrew Cuomo's expected to go into effect in the coming days, we thought we'd share some tips on how to use your phone the safe way (and avoid getting slapped with three points on your license).

Mapping

We've all been there: driving with one hand, holding an iPhone in the other, watching the little blue dot on the iPhone (you) travel away from the squiggly purple line (your route). We do some rash things during these times. We make highly illegal lane changes and come within inches of rear-ending the car in front of us, all because we're focusing on reconciling the map on our phone with the street on which we are driving.

The Alternative: The most obvious solution to relying on the GPS on our smartphones is relying on the GPS on our dashboards. Dashboard-mounted GPS is perfectly legal, and ensures that your eyes stay at least in the vicinity of the road in front of you.

Where to get it: Staples in Little Neck offers a number of different GPS devices, ranging in price from less than $100 to nearly $400. Shop in the , or online for added convenience.

Talking

Well, of course. With the advent of Angry Birds, the original purpose of the cell phone has been all but forgotten. We know how tempting it can be to take a call that comes in, even though you're also holding a latte and merging into traffic on the Long Island Expressway at the same time. Don't worry, though. You can still take the call. Just not with the phone to your ear.

The Alternative: Many people espouse the "hands free set," which is fine, but does come with the side effect of making you look like you're piloting a MiG-28 and not an aging Honda Civic. The whole thing seems a little dramatic. Instead, consider investing in a stereo audio cable, which will connect your phone and your car, broadcasting the sound of your caller's voice all around you. This way, you can talk on the phone without sacrificing any style points. Unless, of course, someone sees you talking to yourself.

Where to get it: RadioShack sells 'em for under $10.  Buy it online or visit the Fresh Meadows location at 187-12 Horace Harding Expy.

Reading

Reading and writing are two activities that seem totally incompatible with operating a two-ton vehicle, but there must be a reason that tablet readers and laptops have both been banned.

Alternative: Listen to a podcast! Use your new stereo audio cable to listen to anything your ears desire. If you're looking for news, NPR has shows that cover a wide variety of subjects and tastes. If you're looking for the sound of a New Zealand river from underneath the water, well, there's that too.

Where to get it: You can find podcasts almost anywhere, but a good place to start is iTunes. Happy podcasting!