In Google Maps v3 you can now disable scroll to zoom, which leads to a much better user experience. Other map functions will still work and you don't need extra divs. I also thought there should be some feedback for the user so they can see when scrolling is enabled, so I added a map border.
// map is the google maps object, '#map' is the jquery selector
preventAccidentalZoom(map, '#map');
// Disables and enables scroll to zoom as appropriate. Also
// gives the user a UI cue as to when scrolling is enabled.
function preventAccidentalZoom(map, mapSelector){
var mapElement = $(mapSelector);
// Disable the scroll wheel by default
map.setOptions({ scrollwheel: false })
// Enable scroll to zoom when there is a mouse down on the map.
// This allows for a click and drag to also enable the map
mapElement.on('mousedown', function () {
map.setOptions({ scrollwheel: true });
mapElement.css('border', '1px solid blue')
});
// Disable scroll to zoom when the mouse leaves the map.
mapElement.mouseleave(function () {
map.setOptions({ scrollwheel: false })
mapElement.css('border', 'none')
});
};