Feds whack map apps: got directions?

• Author: Mangu-Ward, Katherine
• Position: Citings - Navigation maps - Brief article

THE OBAMA administration wants to cripple the navigation and traffic reporting apps on your smartphone--in the name of safety, of course.

Provisions in the proposed transportation bill would give the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration the power to regulate apps like Google Maps and Waze, the crowd-sourced traffic reporting tool. Congress passed stopgap transportation funding for the next to months in July, but more significant reforms are still under debate.

Regulators plan to start with automobiles' built-in navigation devices, since regulatory authority is clearer there. Possible "features" include limiting inputs when the car is in motion or making users click a button declaring themselves passengers.

But useless onboard navigation systems mean drivers will turn to their smartphones, so the feds are looking to slap some new rules on those too. The impulse to make rules against distracted driving has a long and not terribly...