Near misses and wrong turns are part of everyday driving, but new research has revealed that some drivers have taken to blaming satnavs for their motoring mishaps. tomtom_one_side 'It was the satnav, officer - it made me do it' Insurance firm Direct Line recently surveyed 2010 UK drivers, which it claims is a big enough …

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Tuesday 22nd July 2008 20:31 GMT Anonymous Coward

No contradiction

The TomTom survey found that drivers FEEL more safe with a GPS.

That doesn't conflict with the findings that people ARE less safe.

BTW, do GPS maps include the "copyright traps" said to be included in paper maps? Imagine if they decided to add a fake road...

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Wednesday 23rd July 2008 08:58 GMT Anonymous Coward

SatNav?

TwatNav, more like!

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Wednesday 23rd July 2008 08:58 GMT Dr Patrick J R Harkin

@Anonymous Coward

I have no idea if they use fake roads or not, but if they're dead ends they'll never be chosen for a route. Twisting a roundabout 10 degrees wouldn't affect navigation, but would be detectable on analysis. Or they could mis-spell road names.

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Wednesday 23rd July 2008 20:20 GMT Anonymous Coward

The best computer is on your shoulders

Satnavs are a navigation aid and are not perfect. that said drivers have had brains longer than they have had satnavs and making sensible use of a satnav can be helpful.

Ultimately the satnav is dependent on two things, its user interface and its maps. The maps are derived from existing paper maps and so the satnav can only be as accurate as the map it has. OS maps often show minor roads in exactly the same way whether they are surfaced or not, so the satnav doesn't know it the road is surfaced either. Setting for fastest journey ussually makes it choose motorways, first, A roads second B & unclassified roads only when all else fails. Few maps have HGV information included.

the directions have to be got from the Satnav to the driver to be any use and thats the user interface. A voice is best with the screen being used only as a backup or for emphasis. The rules for looking at the satnav are the same as for passengers or the stereo or any other distraction - use common sense and only look at it when absolutely sure it is safe to do so.

Finally practice with it. check out the functions and how to mount & operate it before going near a vehicle with it. Then test it on the road. On testing a new Satnav I always do it on roads I am familiar with. If the device has any idiosyncrasies I do not want to find out about them when I am lost as well. Using the satnav on familiar routes where it can be 'over-ridden' means you can get used to the device and its controls and when you are faced with a unfamiliar road or diversion you at least know how to use the satnav to get out of trouble.

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Thursday 24th July 2008 09:02 GMT tim

greentea02

300,001 traffic accidents are caused by motorists using ipod's as well .

Dodgy propaganda , generated by even more dodgy ministry of anty motoring and the green and safety party.

What if the green argument is wrong ? Will they repay the millions of businesses for the extra expences incurred by listening to their corrupt rantings ?

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