SatNav on the dash or on the windscreen - is it safe at night or in poor visibility?

Badger_Lady

It probably depends on the driver and the routes, but I find mine invaluable. I'm not a travelling rep, but I do drive to different places quite frequently and (particularly as a newbie to my area) I wouldn't know the way without a map.

If I'm driving along a road I've never driven down before:

a) without SatNav - constantly leaning over my steering wheel looking for signposts, stress levels high, don't know which lane to be in until last minute (when no-one will let me in)... thinking I've gone past my turning, but no idea how to get back to it...

b) with SatNav - calm and confident that I'll get there (even if I miss a turning), know exactly which lanes to be in and what junctions are coming up, leaving my mind free to concentrate on other vehicles / pedestrians around me.

As for the visibility issue, I don't always use Night Mode, but I also don't find it distracting - if I was concerned about my ability to see around me clearly, I would do something about it. By the time I've been dazzled by everyone else's headlights / brakelights etc, the small SatNav screen in the centre of the dashboard (not directly in front of me) doesn't come close.

foreversomeday

The thing that worried me about our satnav - when we first got it - is that as a passenger I found myself watching the screen and not the road to track our progress - computer game style! OH was doing it too slightly which worried me, so I made him drive around roads he knows really well until he was used to the satnav and now he doesn't look at it at all, just listens. I never think about night mode but it sounds like something he wouldn't think about so maybe I ought to put it on night mode constantly?

peterbaker

vikingaero wrote: »

All I can say Peter is that if you buy a decent portable system that can be updated over time then it is a worthwhile investment. If you just drive A to B all year long then maybe it's not worth it.

I don't just drive from A to B, but I absolutely will not be buying one until they cost as little as pocket calculators. I very much enjoy my own inbuilt navigation system and impress myself sometimes how well I know my UK-wide and even European geography and how I can get through central London as well as most taxi-drivers .... took me 33 years of driving to build up my database and anticipatory circuits though .... and there were plenty of dead-ends, jams and mistakes in that lot - but at least I could see it all coming at me through my windscreen

LuciferTDark

Good idea for a Christmas present? absolutely!! I couldn't manage without mine, I get lost walking down the stairs.

Woby_Tide

anewman wrote: »

I doubt the people in cars costing £20k+ velcroed a £40 cheapie to the headrest. It will be factory fit or professionally installed and will have cost a good few hundred at least.

a £20k car with fabric seats....how very common ...leather surely. Most of teh systems I've seen have normally fastening straps needing them to be secured around teh headrests and supports for stability.

Purely from personal observations I've probably seen about 5% of people using factory fit ones, I'd say portable ones are by far and away the most common system whether you drive a £2k or a £20k car system. Cheaper to buy/replace and also to remove when not in use than prohibitively expensive factory fits or aftermarket ones

amcluesent

'satnav' is moving on from simple A-B routing.

Start-ups like Dash are now combining GPS, wi-fi, GPRS into networks where each unit sends back traffic info and the system is smart enough to route differently at rush hour.

Then you have the increasing range of points of interest, not just speed scameras but petrol stations etc. which can be updated as you drive around.

shown73

I too was a skeptic, until one day I borrowed one for a multiple pick-up trip to the south west, and from that moment I was hooked. What a difference, in efficiency, safety, and stress levels. To me, sat nav is THE innovation of the last few years, considering that it is still in its infancy. Think of the future possibilities, sadly not all positive of course, the police state will soon extend its tentacles, I fear. One day we will sneer at todays efforts as we now do over the early computers, but one thing is definite, sat nav is here to stay, and will continue to develope into areas that we have not even thought of yet.

peterbaker

Have you seen the BBC Click programme's testdrive of a TomTom versus a London Taxi driver and "The Knowledge" this week?

No contest ... the SatNav routed via Piccadilly and Trafalgar Square to get from Wembley to Greenwich! Even I know that's a complete No No for any journey unless you MUST see Eros, Tiger Tiger and Nelson!

The taxi driver was at Greenwich comfortably half an hour before the SatNav! (and he didn't use buslanes!)

Biggles

peterbaker wrote: »

Have you seen the BBC Click programme's testdrive of a TomTom versus a London Taxi driver and "The Knowledge" this week?

No contest ... the SatNav routed via Piccadilly and Trafalgar Square to get from Wembley to Greenwich! Even I know that's a complete No No for any journey unless you MUST see Eros, Tiger Tiger and Nelson!

The taxi driver was at Greenwich comfortably half an hour before the SatNav! (and he didn't use buslanes!)

27 minutes, actually, isn't 'comfortably half an hour'. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/7143897.stm

The satnav was ahead after the first stage but they then encountered slow traffic, which the cabbie decided to avoid 'on a whim' by using side streets.

To be honest, I think I'd find a satnav better value than a London cab in the long run. Plus I'd get a rest from discussing immigration. ;-)

peterbaker

OK 27 minutes, and the cabbie was definitely sitting comfortably

It's on again right now on BBC News 24 if you missed it earlier ...

SatNav's OK if you haven't a clue or you want an add on to your cheap TrafficMaster type unit, but if you are a Londoner with a bit of nous and a few years London motoring under your belt, I'd bet against one on most trips through town. Plus your eyes get a rest from that stupid glare in your eyeline which means you are quite likely not to be focussing continuously on the road ahead when it is dark and wet ....


...ooh, nah ... you don't wanna go that way ... no mate