Can SatNavs be dangerous?

**Timbuk2**

A discussion I was having with my dad earlier got me thinking.

Is having a Satnav mounted in the windscreen possibly dangerous? My father reckons it can be, as it is a distraction that may take your eyes off the road.

I reckon that provided it is set up in the right place (not in your line of sight) and that you set up the route before moving off, it shouldn't be any more distracting than say - looking at the speedometer, or checking a blindspot.

Our old Satnav would give potentially ambiguous directions at times, such as "In 250m, turn right" which is usually fine but can get confusing if there is a serious of right turns. However, the new one we got at Christmas actually calls out the names of streets (e.g. Take 2nd exit to Main Street) which further eliminates the need to look at the screen.

What do you think - can a Satnav be dangerous? On a similar note, where is the best place to mount a Satnav? - ours has a windscreen suction cup.

Rockery Woman

I dont own one but I borrowed one for driving in Dublin recently as I dont know my way around the city.

All was fine until it told me to drive down Grafton St!!!:eek:

Its safe enough so long as its regularly updated - thats very important (I found that out the hard way)

I stuck it to the windscreen, in the middle near the bottom and didnt find it obstructed my view of the road.

They are ok as a guide, but watch out and use common sense too, dont rely on it 100%

Ghost Train

Could be dangerous if setting it while driving or following blindly... saw on a channel 4 programme a guy driving his family fast through rough back road in Africa in poor light using the satnav to see which way to steer because he couldn't see the road... rolled the jeep and nearly killed them all, some people are that stupid
@14.45 will need to watch the ads first though
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYuX1xXEfUo

Mounting it in lower corner of windscreen to the left or right of where you need to see so it's not blocking your view of the road should be fine? no?

Henry Ford III

Any driver distraction could be potentially dangerous.

Mobile phone, breakfast roll, cigarette, lipstick, crossword, coffee....................

Savman

They are good yokes obviously but people overuse them IMHO. Follow them blindly at your peril, you will end up in trouble sooner rather than later.

You still need to have a clue where you are going and ignore the Satnav whenever required.

smokie2008

REMINDED ME OF THIS FROM JUST LAST WEEK

DMG_49

Thats the dangerous side, put unless your an idiot I can't see how you would do this.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/bradford/7962212.stm

**Timbuk2**

Sorry if I wasn't clearer, but I was wondering more about the aspect of actually mounting the Satnav to the windscreen, enabling you to look at the screen. In the past we used to just leave the Satnav somewhere, usually with a passenger holding it, relying on voice directions only - but I think these aren't always enough.

With regards to following blindly what the Satnav says - I imagine most people would do research beforehand as to what their route should resemble. Actually, I can imagine that Satnavs are only useful for the last 10% of a journey mainly. In the past, I could be driving somewhere in a city, like Galway or Limerick, and while I wouldn't need a Satnav to get to these cities, I found it invaluable to actually find my way around the city and get to the destination.

Mind you, there has been a few occasions where it has tried to route me down roads with grass in the middle (usually leaving the main road, and joining it again - it's a shorter route than the main road, which is probably why) but I just don't go down the road - I'll stick to the main road and make her recalculate :P

But what about the placement of the Satnav on the windscreen/dashboard as being potentially dangerous?

ARGINITE

Ghost Train wrote: »

Could be dangerous if setting it while driving or following blindly... saw on a channel 4 programme a guy driving his family fast through rough back road in Africa in poor light using the satnav to see which way to steer because he couldn't see the road... rolled the jeep and nearly killed them all, some people are that stupid
@14.45 will need to watch the ads first though
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYuX1xXEfUo

Mounting it in lower corner of windscreen to the left or right of where you need to see so it's not blocking your view of the road should be fine? no?

What an arse that guy is!

Seth Brundle

I've often passed cars on say the M50 which have this bright screen on their windscreen. Surely that is distracting to the driver or at the very least, makes the cabin slightly brighter in the dark and potentially reducing visibility outside.
Anyhow, the claim frequently arises here about how making drivers focus on their speedo by enforcing speed limits is dangerous. On the assumption that this is the case, then surely trying to focus on a bright map when driving is much worse!

Lastly, and not a danger is that they or the suction marks when removed from the windscreen apparently are an invitation to thieves to break into your car.

drunkmonkey

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Any driver distraction could be potentially dangerous.

Mobile phone, breakfast roll, cigarette, lipstick, crossword, coffee....................

Looking out for Go Safe Van:rolleyes:

I don't think i've ever been as distracted while driving.

Mc Love

I got a dashboard mount for mine - Much less distracting than having it on the windscreen

Seth Brundle

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Looking out for Go Safe Van:rolleyes:

I don't think i've ever been as distracted while driving.

In fairness, if you are being distracted this much by looking for the vans then slow down!
I speed all the time yet manage to keep an eye out for all road hazards including the Talivan without getting distracted.

mik_da_man

When I got mine first it was slighly distracting, but I got used to it quickly.
It aint too bright at night as it has an auto dim function.
Also I actually use it to monitor my speed more that the speedo when it's on as you have to divert your eyes less.
Mine is in the bottom right corner and does not obstruct my vision.
I dont know about having it in the middle though, wouldn't suit me anyway.

jimmycrackcorm

A SatNav is no more dangerous than staring out trying to read road signs while coming up to a junction.

Cookie_Monster

and its safer than having a map open across the windscreen

DublinDilbert

Rockery Woman wrote: »

I dont own one but I borrowed one for driving in Dublin recently as I dont know my way around the city.

All was fine until it told me to drive down Grafton St!!!:eek:

Its safe enough so long as its regularly updated - thats very important (I found that out the hard way)

I stuck it to the windscreen, in the middle near the bottom and didnt find it obstructed my view of the road.

They are ok as a guide, but watch out and use common sense too, dont rely on it 100%

Yours must of been seriously out of date if it told you to go down grafton street!!!! More than likely it's set to walking mode. Most people don't even know they have a walking mode.

Oh that couple who got stuck cause of the sat nav was just a stupid story. If they followed the road signs they would of got stuck exactly the same...

Del2005

I'd say it depends more on the driver then the sat nav. I've had mine on the window loads and never had any issues, but a while ago I found the average MPG display and was glancing at that loads. If it's new and shiny you'll look at it after a while you get used to it and ignore it.

Have seen loads of people with them mounted in the middle of the screen below the rear view mirror, these are a danger as they create a huge blind spot but I've also seen people hanging sh!t off their mirror which is just as dangerous.

Sat-Navs are great but you should not rely just on them - always look at the route in advance (this is difficult on some models admittedly).

They are very bad in rural Ireland where technically the shortest route may be down some track with grass growing down the middle of it where you are likely to damage your car and/ or meet a tractor!

They are also very dangerous in rural situations in that right of way at crossroads / junctions is not marked (or even the traversing road may not be on the map :eek: ) - therefore encouraging you to drive straight through if you are looking at the map only.

Pkiernan

I will admit to using my Sat-Nav like a rally car driver uses his co-driver.

3am drive to my hunting club in the middle of California. Visibility down to about 10 feet with the fog.

The Sat Nav acted like night vision!! Now I wouldnt be doing those speeds on any sort of populated roads, but it did the job!!