Safe Speed Forums

They're so crap at driving we should just say, "have as many new distractions as you like because you're going to crash into me anyway?" WTF? This site is supposely about improving safety, not just giving up and accepting whatever gets thrown at us.

Dual standards based on poorly considered prejudice focused on a certain aspect. Standard 1. Cameras are bad, they kill people, they promote lousy driving based on speed alone etc etc etc. Standard 2. Distracted people carrier driver is so bad anyway there's no hope so let them do whatever they want, stick a computer in the windscreen and accept that they will crash anyhow.

Things that make the roads more dangerous are bad. That includes speed cameras, GPS and other distraction toys (in my opinion), mobile phones, roadside advertising and so on. Picking just one item and saying it's bad while defending other potentially lethal devices is total hypocritical bollocks.

Just so long as you don't start a movement to ban girls in short skirts!

_________________
"Politicians are the same the world over... We build bridges where there aren't any rivers." - Nikita Kruschev

Actually I was just trying to explain the insurance figures from the USA that were quoted. I imagine satnav is more prevalent there hence the large numbers. I have never argued that satnav is not a distraction, only that it's better than the alternative, which is why I ask how many of those crashes would have occured anyway, or to put another way, how many more crashes would there have been if no-one had sadnav?

I would, of course, like to make it clear that this is purely in the interests of pedestrians and drivers stuck in stationary traffic, who would naturally be expected to apply the correct principles... Covertly Ogle A*ses of Sexy Teenagers.!

_________________
"Politicians are the same the world over... We build bridges where there aren't any rivers." - Nikita Kruschev

Given a choice of distraction between GPS and Girl in Short Skirt you can insert the GPS in an orifice of your choosing. Do what you want; I'll be over here thinking about the short skirt.
If I'm gonna crash I'd rather it was because of letchery than gadgetry.

I get to drive a lot of different vehicles through work, and the majority have either a portable or the manufacturer's built in Sat nav.
The majority, if I'm heading South, have instructed me to turn right at the end of my road.

That's great, as I would indeed be heading south; however, the fact that I would be driving south along the northbound carriageway of the A1 would probably make this a little dangerous

Of course, it used to be possible to turn south here by crossing through the gap in the central reservation, but that was closed about 5-years ago (not long after someone towing a caravan left it sticking into the fast lane at night and had it 'removed' by a lorry).

Tom Tom seems to have corrected this late last year, but a lot of the others still want me to play chicken (and it can be so hard to disobey when sultry sat nav girl tells you to turn right now)

BlackadderTF wrote:

Where did you get your sultry girl, mine is a bit bossy. But still more polite than Mrs B when she was navigating and telling me I should've turned left at the last junction despite her saying 'right'.

_________________
Shooting is good for you and too good for some people.

In-Car SatNav Branded "Danger"

http://www.lse.co.uk/ShowStory.asp?stor ... ded_danger

I'm starting to see a few articles along these lines now as the world starts to wake up to the risks as well as the benefits. I'd like to see a loading on insurance 1) as a 'vehicle modification' for aftermarket systems and 2) as a potential additional risk for factory-fitted ones. I think it will be introduced fairly soon.
The those who trot out the old, "are you going to ban car radios, smoking, talking, breathing, farting?" argument, no I'm not, I just don't think there's any room left for any more additional distractions on top of all those.

hmm, the article goes on about how if you're reprogramming your satnav while on the motorway (which I'll freely admit is bloody stupid) then you can travel some silly distance without looking. It attempts to link this to the survey saying 1/10th of drivers have reprogrammed their satnavs while driving.

Right at the bottom it then points out that the majority of satnavs are used for getting around cities.

So, we need to focus on the "while driving" aspect of that 1/10th claim. Does being sat with your foot on the brake, stationary in a queue of cars at the traffic lights count as "while driving". I suspect that it does, but hardly in the same league.

Most insurance policies cover aftermarket telephone/audio/navigation kit anyway. I have a limit of £400 for mine and if they want to load for having the kit, they can bloody well cover the full value of it (including the 11 months it took me to build the thing)

Anyway, I'm adding voice activation to mine next

Also, most systems have the feature to display reduced information above a certain speed. I have mine set to provide only "big arrow" type information above 60 mph.

I have my brain set to "don't look" at a similar sort of speed, it works for me.

I commented on these two posts then realised that my response may be of very fundamental importance and split it to a new topic: http://www.safespeed.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6490

_________________
Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Having started a new job as a multi-drop driver I have to say that satnav is fantastic. I program the next location from where I am and then follow the instructions as they are called out. I can look at the screen if it's a difficult junction to ensure I take the right way and don't have to drive down small residential roads or dangerous U-turns to get back on route. the design of most towns, indeed roads, makes stopping to deliver hard work and stopping to consult a map almost immpossible.
Having done this years ago I have to say that satnav is far, far easier and a long way safer than when I was using maps to find places in unknown areas - just finding where you were let alone where you were going meant stopping in dangerous places while you looked up the street name. With the roads now as they are (concrete islands etc making sure you cannot stop saftly) then without satneav almost the only other option would be to prop the map on the steering wheel while driving in towns to navigate.

Be honest - which one would you want me to do??

Horses for courses. I started driving a taxi a few months ago, which is when I got my first tatste of satnav. Frankly I can see why they still want new hackney drivers to pass a knowledge test in spite of the relatively cheap availability of satnav. It's no substitute for spending a few weeks learning your way round the area and making the A-Z bedtime reading material. When I get asked for somewhere I've never heard of it's quicker to get moving and ask the passenger for directions, or if they don't know ask the controller, or ask another driver. The satnav is the last resort after the A-Z due to the time it takes to program a destination (bit fiddly on mine), though for advance bookings or when the destination is way out of our area it does make sense for me to use it. But I imagine it's a godsend for your line of work.

_________________
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

Surely it all depends on the satnav and the design of the input mechanism.

I have seen some shockers ie. any PDA based satnav which requires a stylus, and my old Garmin unit which had a 4-way button and required entry in a manner similar to entering your name on an 80s arcade machine.

My current setup uses a 7" touchscreen and an on-screen keyboard which it's perfectly possible to do two-finger typing on, though I normally prefer to rest my wrist on the gearstick and do one-finger typing. It's normally sufficient to just enter the first 4 or 5 litters, then hit enter and choose from a list of streets that start with what you just typed. I can program a route in about 5 seconds.

True. Wanna guess what I've got?

_________________
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

Medion Navigator running on a Windows Mobile / Pocket PC based PDA?

Nope. Hint: requires entry in a manner similar to entering your name on an early 80s arcade machine.

_________________
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

StreetPilot III or whatever the new smaller version of that thing is called?

Well, not a III but it is a Street Pilot. Not very expensive one I think - got the wheely button in the middle. But I probably wouldn't be satisfied with anything less than full on voice control anyway. I really want to be able to just call out a postcode or road name to make it go. I'd also like to be able to issue voice commands like "but that's miles out of the way", "no, that way has roadworks" and "shut up you ing annoying cow".

_________________
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein