Curmudgeon wrote:
Or watching your GPS display. I saw that program too. To my mind GPS, despite its benefits is equally bad as a distraction as using a mobile. Trouble is I can't convince most people that GPS screens are a potential hazard.
Personally, I find GPS a positive safety enhancement when driving in an unknown area. The GPS means that I can concentrate on driving and don't have to spend one third of my time looking for signs to tell me where to go, and one third of my time identifying the speed limit and checking my compliance with that, leaving only one third of my time for hazard awareness and other things related to safety.
My GPS tells me which way to go. In constrast to fixed signs, it gives me the information when I have spare capacity to absorb it. It gives me enough warning to let me select the correct lane well in advance. My GPS "knows" the speed limit on most major routes and issues a warning if I stray above that - so I don't need to check my speedo as often or spend so much time looking for overgrown signs etc.
However, the biggest benefit from using a GPS is that I'm more relaxed driving in "foreign climes", which helps my concentration. IMO, I'm much safer because of GPS.