Sat Nav / Tom Tom

AnotherJoe

neilmcl wrote: »

I think the opposite is true.

And I think the opposite of that is true

It removes the worry about when to turn and so on, and lets you concentrate on the road and traffic around you without peering for a signpost or a road sign. Like any tool it can be used or abused. Use it well, and it will be an aid.

neilmcl

AnotherJoe wrote: »

And I think the opposite of that is true

It removes the worry about when to turn and so on, and lets you concentrate on the road and traffic around you without peering for a signpost or a road sign. Like any tool it can be used or abused. Use it well, and it will be an aid.

Part of "concentrating" on the road is knowing your surroundings and being able to read and follow road signs. It's all to easy to be sucked into the bubble, particularly for new drivers, of driving on 'auto pilot' with a device telling you how and where you should be driving on the road rather learning the valuable techniques needed on the road.

A new driver learns a lot more and gains loads more confidence by planning their journey with a map beforehand and occasionally make and subsequently correct the inevitable wrong turns etc then they would ever do blindly following a sat nav.

LadyDee

I have just updated my satnav, but with the rate of development and roadworks going on around my region, I'd end up in some pretty funny places if I relied totally on my satnav - especiallyy at complex major road and motorway intersections.

Just locally, my satnav tells me to take the 2nd exit - uh, no - it's now the third, as they've opened up an exit heading somewhere else. That exit is not yet updated on my satnav.

Learn to read signs - it's actually a major part of developing road awareness.

AnotherJoe

neilmcl wrote: »

I think the opposite is true.

neilmcl wrote: »

Part of "concentrating" on the road is knowing your surroundings and being able to read and follow road signs. It's all to easy to be sucked into the bubble, particularly for new drivers, of driving on 'auto pilot' with a device telling you how and where you should be driving on the road rather learning the valuable techniques needed on the road.

A new driver learns a lot more and gains loads more confidence by planning their journey with a map beforehand and occasionally make and subsequently correct the inevitable wrong turns etc then they would ever do blindly following a sat nav.

I'd say a new driver learns more by setting the destination in the sat nav so they can concentrate on the traffic , so they are prepared at junctions by reading road signs but also being prepared ahead of that, so they dont hesitate or take last minute decisions about which lane to be in or exit to take* because they are confident if they take a wrong one they will get rerouted rather than utterly lost.
i"m not saying blindly follow it" I'm saying if you have confidence you'll get there and can easily recover from getting lost, it shoudl make you a calmer and safer driver. You wont be taking your turn last minute when you suddenly notice it.
I do agree using it exclusively as the way to tell you what lane you should be in means you should have failed your test, look at the road signs and markings for that!

*like the wally in front of me yesterday constantly slowing down, speeding up, indicating and then not taking the indicated turn and then violently taking a turn when they saw what they thought was their turning (and then in my rear view mirror could be seen coming out of that one)

forgotmyname

Just make sure you have enough fuel in the tank to get you home even if you are in the wrong lane and have to take the other road.

Taught my youngest that if your in teh wrong lane and its busy busy, just follow the traffic and come back at the next junction. Ive seen people sdo stupid things when there is a simple alternative only a few yards up the road.

AnotherJoe

forgotmyname wrote: »

Just make sure you have enough fuel in the tank to get you home even if you are in the wrong lane and have to take the other road.

Taught my youngest that if your in teh wrong lane and its busy busy, just follow the traffic and come back at the next junction. Ive seen people sdo stupid things when there is a simple alternative only a few yards up the road.

I've twice seen people reversing round a roundabout because they missed the exit. Didn't have my dash cam then unfortunately or I'd have sent the recording off.

Now is those cases a sat nav would have definitely helped the [STRIKE]idiot[/STRIKE] driver since it wouldn't tell them to reverse.

csgohan4

AnotherJoe wrote: »

I've twice seen people reversing round a roundabout because they missed the exit. Didn't have my dash cam then unfortunately or I'd have sent the recording off.

Now is those cases a sat nav would have definitely helped the [STRIKE]idiot[/STRIKE] driver since it wouldn't tell them to reverse.

Lol never seen that before, you know they could just go one round again to get the exit again. Some people shouldn't drive

DragonQ

I only bother with Google Maps these days. My car has a built-in sat nav with traffic but doesn't seem reliable. Both times I've used it it's suggested a different route to Google Maps, which itself said was ~10 minutes slower. Plus it's free!

Mercdriver

DragonQ wrote: »

I only bother with Google Maps these days. My car has a built-in sat nav with traffic but doesn't seem reliable. Both times I've used it it's suggested a different route to Google Maps, which itself said was ~10 minutes slower. Plus it's free!

Not necessarily. If it uses mobile data, it will depend on your mobile package. God help you if you use it when abroad.

DragonQ

Mercdriver wrote: »

Not necessarily. If it uses mobile data, it will depend on your mobile package. God help you if you use it when abroad.

True, abroad it might not be the best option. Last time I hired a car abroad it had a sat nav but the time before that I used Google Maps. It cost £2/day to use my data abroad with O2. Pretty cheap compared to buying a sat nav and/or European maps.

It's probably not the best option for those on PAYG either.