DrDyno

So, yesterday I'm stopped at a long traffic light. My '14 has an A6 and my habit is to put the car in neutral when I come to a stop (which I probably did then but honestly don't remember). My display was set to Navigation.

I had my phone in my hand resting against the bottom of the steering wheel, checking for a phone number. I was completely legal here in Florida and don't play with my phone while moving.

My display changed, which caught my eye and, when I looked, it had gone to a gray screen with a message that said something like:

"Don't take your eyes off the road, it's dangerous while driving."



When the light changed, I shifted back to "D" and my display went back to Navigation.

Anyone ever heard of that?
Could Big Brother be watching through OnStar?
(My OnStar account only includes emergency services and no driving monitoring.)

PobreWey

You are not tripping. GM cars have sensors Not sure if it is from the HUD or from My Link due to you pressing it or your phone hooked up to it, maybe someone can clarify further. No human is watching you though

Kevin A Jones

I will do that at times with a manual during a long light, however never heard of anyone doing it with an auto.

Avanti

"No human is watching you though" EXACTLY what they want YOU to think!!!

BlueFinn

Why do you move the transmission into neutral at traffic lights?
John

snork

gotta take your eyes off the ***'n road to read the message, brilliant

mschuyler

It will also admonish you if you try to enter nav system info while moving. Apparently they never heard of a passenger taking on navigation duties while someone else drives. Frankly, the message on the driver's screen is a danger in itself.

WICKEDFRC

I received a warning as well, but mine said "What's her head doing in your lap?"

owc6

The car is smart enough to know if there is a passenger onboard, and will allow full access to the nav system. If you are alone, it will only allow certain things.

I'm assuming the car is working along the same assumption when someone is accessing a paired phone?

mschuyler

Nope. Sorry. I've had it happen a number of times now. It's not a fluke. That's how it works. If my passenger attempts to input Nav data above about 18 mph or so (It gives an exact mph in the message but I don't recall exactly what that is.) it flashes this message that you have to "Dismiss" (just like a "door open" message) before going ahead and entering the data. It does "allow you full access," but not before yelling at you that you should not do it. OK, so she only weighs about 105 pounds, but the light is off for the airbag, so the car knows she is sitting there.

Steve_R

Grand Slam

Yeah. If driving alone my Nav screen won't me play with it. I've gotten a different nag screen occasionally when a passenger in a C7 where I think I've had to say I was the passenger but not usually. I'm not sure why the difference.

Vetteman Jack

I’ve heard of people doing that, but just never saw the need to do so.

sunsalem

I guess it's better than "What's his head doing in your lap?"

Requires less foot pressure on the brake to hold the car in place?

scottaolsen

"Why do you move the transmission into neutral at traffic lights?"

My son in law did the very same thing the other day in my van. I asked him why he did that. He couldn't give me a good answer and I told him to knock it off.

owc6

This SIL/FIL issue as to who will cave first is much more interesting than whether someone puts an auto into N while stopped!

DrDyno

Hi BluFinn, and to the rest who asked why I put the transmission into neutral at traffic lights. The answer is simple, to let everything relax and maintain its cool, literally.

In 1977 I was the Center Manager at a large AAMCO transmission center. One of their best rebuilders shared with me that if folks would bother to shift into neutral when stopped, their transmissions would last twice as long. His reply to my "why is that?" was... it keeps the transmission, brakes and engine from building up as much heat.

So, I got into the habit and, from that day to do this, I've never needed a transmission or a u-joint (and, very few brake jobs). Even the early '90's Dodge Dynasty we inherited from my father-in-law went 90K+ miles on the original transmission and u-joints.

If you think it makes sense, do it. If not, don't. I've heard all the arguments against (clutch packs disengaging & re-engaging, u-joints, etc.) and my experience tells me... it's worthwhile.

joemessman

Let me play the devils advocate here: An automatic transmission engineer shared with me a few years ago that you should never shift the transmission from D to N at the lights. The reason being you are wearing your clutch plates in your transmissions. It also gets hotter because of the friction and the dirtier transmission oil then contributes to other component failures. He said, "leave it in drive Joe!"

2016c7fl

You Too???? Gotta love it

UsernameProtected

The brakes don't produce heat while they are applied when one is stopped. There might be an almost un-measurable amount of cooling lost as stationary ambient air is unable to accept heat transfer from the portion of the rotor/pad that is in contact with each other.

Next time anyone asks, just tell them you really wanted a manual transmission, but your wife wouldn't let you get one, so you pretend you have one when you're stopped.

I "might" have done the same a few times with one of my previous cars, that I bought with an auto because I thought my wife would drive it when I didn't use it.