Your focus while driving needs to be on driving, and if there’s tech out there that can facilitate that focus while also serving up pertinent information modern drivers want, I haven’t seen any better or more effective tech than a head up display. Phone and in-car distractions are addictive and seemingly endless. It’s easy to see why distracted driving is causing so many accidents and taking so many lives. Keep in mind that whenever you look at your car’s instrument display, your infotainment screen or (heaven forbid) your phone, however briefly, your eyes are not on the road ahead, and at freeway speeds, your vehicle covers nearly 100 feet per second. Conveniently, Hudway is working on a similar device, called the Hudway Sight. I used a helmet-mounted head-up display while riding my motorcycles for years before the company folded and bricked the device, and I miss it to this day. I’ve driven several cars with a HUD and I’m of the opinion that it’s one of the best defences against distracted driving available today. Since the Hudway Drive relies on GPS for speed information, tunnels or thick tree cover would send speed data to zero temporarily, but that was about the only odd thing I noticed. I never had a connection problem, and by the time I was strapped in, situated and ready to drive, the Hudway Drive was on task. In my experience, it took about 15 to 20 seconds to boot up, automatically connect to my phone and be ready to show accurate speed data and so forth. However, the Hudway will only work while connected to your smartphone (via Bluetooth) so think of it a customizable projector of sorts. Users can make the Hudway Drive display as simple or as complicated as they desire, as well as vary font sizes and tweak the display so it fits best on the Hudway’s screen. The Drive will display all manner of social media notifications as well as phone ops info, song titles and even video camera feeds. Having this much information in your forward vision is a good way to keep your eyes on the road, not. This dual-screen approach was especially handy while navigating to some out-of-the-way spots on the Oregon coast that were off the beaten path. The Hudway Drive, commensurate to its name, can also be used for navigation, and displays simple directions via arrows and junctions (with voice if desired) along with a detailed map on your phone’s screen. Overall, I enjoyed having all my driving data and the occasional hello right there in the windshield and felt much less tempted to peek at my phone at stoplights (illegal in Oregon). Again, since it’s right in the sightline, I don't feel my few data bits are overly distracting and, via the app, I set them to “show” for just 2 seconds, but of course you can go too far with notifications very easily these days. Notification options for numerous social and communication apps are currently offered, but I prefer to keep those to an absolute minimum. There are other options including the “cost” of the trip (more app input required), and I also opted to have the HUD show me the name of phone callers or the ID of someone texting me. Roberson PhotographyĪfter tapping a few pertinent details into the app, I decided to have the Hudway show speed, outside temperature, a weather icon (snowing!!), the time, distance traveled, and top speed. No matter the situation, I never had a problem reading the Drive display. The Hudway will also display data from OBD-based car diagnostic systems that use smartphone apps, such as INNOVA system, or others. The system can also show video from backup or side view cameras, although that is a much more involved installation adventure, and I already had a mirror-based backup system in place. Hudway includes some wire routing nubs but I just used a tool to tuck the fairly long power cable into the seam between my windshield and dash for a cleaner install. A small projector housing sits close to your steering wheel. The HUD display itself is a transparent panel that allows for fine-tuning your eye line to the display, or folding it down flat. The Drive does not have an internal battery. Power comes from a long USB cord that ends in a familiar legacy USB Type I/II connector. Once dialed in, the HUD section can disconnect from the base to be less tempting to car prowlers. The base has flexible, positionable “wings” and a big adhesive pad, making it a fairly permanent proposition once installed, so fine tuning placement before locking down the adhesive is a good idea. The $299 Hudway Drive system consists of the head up display hard parts and an accompanying free smartphone app called “Drive.” The HUD device itself sits on a flexible rubberized platform that adheres to your dashboard, typically right above your instruments and steering wheel.
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