Sat nav ban

Garnet_Gem

Should sat nav be banned as it takes up a lot of attention instead of watching the road? Do you use yours or has it been a waste of money?

consultant31

Our sat nav doesn't take my attention from the road.

I set it up before leaving the driveway and then it tells me in a loud clear tone which way to turn etc - not much different to having DH navigate - except it's always right and he rarely is :rotfl:

colin79666

no
however I do think the police should be clamping down on people adjusting their sat nav while driving
when used properly they enhance safety as you can concentrate on the road rather than trying to read every direction sign you pass

harveybobbles

They are now clamping down on having a fag behind the wheel.

What next?!

not allowed to use the radio or change a cd...?!

roswell

Mine should be banned for taking me down a farmers field enterance once and telling me to go 40 miles up the m42 then telling me to take the next exit turn right, take next right then follow m42 for 65 miles (80 mile detour for somewhere 25 miles away) .. other than that no they are loud and clear as with anything if used responcibly dont cause problems.

shown73

Brilliant accessory, best thing I've ever bought. Relax, enjoy the journey, do what you're told. I drive professionaly at times, and it's made such a difference, I really wouldn't be without it. Just completed a trip to southern Germany which I've done hundreds of times, and it took me a slightly different way which worked out much better. Amazing little gadget, if you regularly go to strange destinations, otherwise of course, it's pointless. Not perfect, maybe, but nearly.

tomstickland

If you like maps, like me, then sat nav is not of much use. As to a ban, we really do need to take a more realistic approach to this sort of thing.

scbk

I drive accross the whole UK, and would consider myself good at reading maps, used to use them all the time. But got fed up of trying to negotiate city centres whilst looking for street signs. So I bought a cheap sat nav.
For most towns in Scotland I'd know what roads to use off the top off my head, so use the sat nav to find the exact street when I get there.

For England I'll take a quick glance at the road atlas to decide on a route then use the sat nav to follow this route. I only turn it on if needed as I find it's a bit annoying otherwise.


Once in Ayrshire the Police shut the main road due to an RTA so I took an alternative route suggested by the officer. After a few miles the sat nav reckoned it had a shortcut along a minor road. Turned off, drove past a few houses then 50yds later it was signposted "footpath" so I decided no to bother with that route

Makes me smile when you hear stories of people following sat navs and driving into harbours/getting stuck in fields etc - do these people not look where they're going?

thescouselander

Garnet_Gem wrote: »

Should sat nav be banned as it takes up a lot of attention instead of watching the road? Do you use yours or has it been a waste of money?

Are you seroius? Having a satnav is much safer than trying to read a map as you drive through town - it allows you to concentrate on the road. In my view it should be law that all new cars come fitted with satnav.

davidlizard

thescouselander wrote: »

Are you seroius? Having a satnav is much safer than trying to read a map as you drive through town - it allows you to concentrate on the road. In my view it should be law that all new cars come fitted with satnav.

I agree that they can be an aid to road safety, however, it should also be law that owners of said devices have to take some kind of common sense test before being let loose with them, otherwise we will have more instances of people driving off down railway lines, rivers and one way streets simply because they were told to do so by voices! At the end of the day, they are a useful aid, but no replacement for a map, observational skills and a bit of sense.

Some examples:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/6280053.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/6646331.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/242802.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6957540.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/6241228.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/6483383.stm

We had an old dear knocked over in town by a car driving the wrong way down a one way street, because the driver was blindly following instructions. The road was temporally one way due to roadworks.

piggeh

I'd say sat nav does not make people drive any less safe. When I drive somewhere I have to constantly look for road signs, etc, which take my eye off the road for much longer than looking at a screen briefly.