In safety terms what is the difference between mobile phones and sat navs?

horace_2

Is just a matter of time before we see newspaper headlines screaming

`DRIVER USING SAT NAV KILLS xyz` ?

I think sat navs are just as dangerous as motorists using hand held phones.

horace

jack_spratt_2

Looking at your speedo is that dangerous !! and most sat nav use vocal instructions as well as visual instructions !! it could be argued it makes driving safer as the driver knows more were he is going and what lane to be in .

Just my thoughts

vikingaero

With sat nav I can concentrate on driving rather than looking for Montague Street and then 6th left on Rayner Street.

Without sat nav I'm constantly looking for turnings and road names. If I miss a turn I get grumpy and a grumpy driver is a bad driver.

hewhoisnotintheknow

you dont have a conversation with a sat nav

Hintza

horace wrote: »

I think sat navs are just as dangerous as motorists using hand held phones.

horace

So what is your point? Where are you going with your argument?

Nex0

horace wrote: »

Is just a matter of time before we see newspaper headlines screaming

`DRIVER USING SAT NAV KILLS xyz` ?

I think sat navs are just as dangerous as motorists using hand held phones.

horace

Maybe you should stop holding your sat nav to the side of your head then and start using it properly.

Nilrem

Sat nav's don't require you to be holding/touching them, and are generally hands free from the word go (you don't need to touch them once you start off).
That is the big difference

However the police can do you if they catch you using a sat nav (setting it etc) whilst driving under the same laws that mobiles phones used to be under, before they became a major problem on their own (and it became apparent that a specific offence was needed to deal with it).

I've yet to see anyone driving around trying to programme a sat nav whilst negotiating a busy roundabout, however I do see people doing the same with mobiles almost daily.

redux

There is potential for some truth in the OP's complaint. Most people are sensible, but some are not

On a motorway with no exits for 15 or 20 km, why do some of the cars I overtake at night have the picture still on bright, and so zoomed in that the road width takes up nearly 20% of the screen width and nothing else at all is visible?

And it's right in their field of view on top of the dashboard, so that their night vision is surely impaired to the point they can hardly see out. One car a couple of years ago nearly collided with every one of 5 cars it overtook, and I've seen others who simply cannot stay in lane.

The spoken instructions are fine, and having the display down near the radio is no problem at all. But they're probably overused. I drove from Paris to Oslo in a car with it installed as standard, my friend had programmed the route, I inadvertently muted the sound and couldn't turn it back up, and only looked at it when turning off to avoid a motorway jam near Hamburg.

PasturesNew

It's been proven that when you're on the phone your concentration is on your conversation. You are listening and compiling a response in your head - maybe being asked for instructions or help from somebody and having to think and explain it to them. That is why phones are so much more dangerous.

BillScarab

PasturesNew wrote: »

It's been proven that when you're on the phone your concentration is on your conversation. You are listening and compiling a response in your head - maybe being asked for instructions or help from somebody and having to think and explain it to them. That is why phones are so much more dangerous.

According to the research the above applies to hands free phones as well. Not quite as dangerous as a handheld phone but still not ideal.

Basically anything that distracts you from driving is dangerous, lighting a cigarette, swapping a cd etc.

I sue a Sat nav sometimes and make sure I always set it before starting to drive. Its also mounted just above the radio so it doesn't block my view but is still easy to glance at if required. It also switches to night mode automatically. I don't know how people can drive along with them in daytime mode at night, they're so bright.

big_gay_kirk

IIRC (and I may be wrong..) it is illegal in this country to have something with a screen fitted in a car where the driver can see it and be distracted.... so no tvs, dvd players, etc in the front of a car.... and that could apply to sat navs.....