Guest dilbert Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Some drivers apparently don't have all their neurons correctly configured see satnav Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium mezzoman253 Posted July 29, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 29, 2011 Judging by the driving I see, I'm suprised it's only 7 Million Rob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Re6/6 Posted July 29, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 29, 2011 These people are just ****witted morons. If this is happening in such numbers perhaps these satnav manufacturers should remove the timing element from all new ones sold. Regarding the other satnav pain, living where we do, we are all sick and tired of large trucks getting stuck in our narrow country lanes. It's not only foreigners that are responsible for it, we have local large lorries at it as well. I would have thought that they'd have some sort of 'local knowledge'! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 These people are just ****witted morons. If this is happening in such numbers perhaps these satnav manufacturers should remove the timing element from all new ones sold. My experience has been that the initial estimation of time (the first time you travel a route) tends to be quite conservative - I have beat it by over an hour on a 12-hour run (this is just driving normally, without any significant transgressions, and it included a 20 delay at the border). As you follow a route the software updates the driving time for the road segments you use, improving the estimate. That same 12-hour run is accurate within 15 minutes now. Regarding the other satnav pain, living where we do, we are all sick and tired of large trucks getting stuck in our narrow country lanes. It's not only foreigners that are responsible for it, we have local large lorries at it as well. I would have thought that they'd have some sort of 'local knowledge'! Satnav devices, particularly the cheap newer ones that are intended to be idiot-resistant, reduce your situational awareness compared to navigating by map because they don't give the overall view that a map does. They also tend not to display information that they consider irrelevant to the route (side roads, parallel roads, etc.). This means that drivers, particularly those that are navigationally-challenged at the best of times, end up driving in their little satnav bubble without an awareness of where they are in relation to anywhere else. I've had GPS devices in my cars since all you could get was a device that showed a 'breadcrumb trail' on a grey screen (no mapping or routing capabilities). I've found that, as the whole routing functionality has improved, the amount of useful information displayed on the screen has reduced. Note - I do not use the voice command functionality and frequently use GPS devices as moving maps rather than route-following devices. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Satnav devices, particularly the cheap newer ones that are intended to be idiot-resistant, reduce your situational awareness compared to navigating by map because they don't give the overall view that a map does. I've seen cases with just the opposite - an idiot using a map while driving rotating it to get it orientated so that the driving direction is ahead as in peering forward over the steering wheel. SWMBO is quite good at map reading - but only when the map has been turned round so. I think Satnavs are great when you are trying to find your way around a foreign country or through a big city that often has only local signage. But sometime people seem to disconnect common sense and fail to read the road in front of them taking an instruction to turn right means ignore the no entry sign. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 I've seen cases with just the opposite - an idiot using a map while driving rotating it to get it orientated so that the driving direction is ahead as in peering forward over the steering wheel. My point was not so much that, but that if you consult a map (safely, of course) and know where you are, you get a good idea of your relationship to your destination and/or alternative routes. You don't tend to get that with a lot of the satnav devices - with them you know about the intersection/junction that you are at, but you have very little idea where you are in relation to your destination, or to the surrounding towns etc. Ideally I'd run two satnavs, one providing the normal route directions and the other providing a heading-up moving map at a larger scale. I'm not sure what the authorities would think of that, though... The other thing I find annoying is the tendency for my current satnav to adjust the scale of what it is displaying without bothering to indicate that it has done so. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZ Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Not got one and won't buy one. I can read a map, so why bother. OK, I am quite lucky that I can remember routes well, even when I haven't driven them for years, though may get a little thrown by new road once in a while. My philosophy is, if you start out driving in the right general direction, sooner or later you will end up where you intended. What pees me off is the drivers you see day after day driving to work using their satnav. And the position they sometimes put them. A couple of weeks back I followed one with it stuck in the centre of his field of view and having to look around it to see the road !!!! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted July 31, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 31, 2011 If I'm using my satnav I always select the woman's voice. Then I can just ignore her ...... and get away with it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
meil Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 I don't understand how this works because my Satnav ETA is constantly updated so I can never arrive before the satnav time, I can't arrive after come to that! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted July 31, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 31, 2011 I use mine as a basic aid, usually I have looked at a map first to get a good idea of where I'm going in the first place and also use the road markings and signs. I have seen to many idiots change direction with little or no indication as they wait for the NAG to tell them to turn off the last one I saw was on Friday where he went sailing across 4 lanes of traffic on a roundabout, I could rant on for pages. Cheers SS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted July 31, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 31, 2011 Going back to the idiot behaviour described in the OP, I've been doing something of the opposite. Having found myself covering nearly 60 miles a day on hospital visits, and the price of fuel having gone up almost daily, I've been using my trip computer to help improve MPG. The trip tells me the average MPG on the present run, and by throttling back a bit here and there - I try not to drive significantly below road speed in traffic, as that's just selfish - I am seeing some very nice numbers, with 70 mpg (diesel, of course) towards the end of the journey. In temperate weather, a tank average of 56 mpg has always been within reach, but now I'm bettering that. Fun and saves money! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Don't have a satnav - prefer to stick with my road atlas, OS map or A-Z. However I do find Google Streetview very useful when planning a route as you can clearly see the road markings and which route to take. Also useful in finding a place to park as yellow lines and restriction signs can be easily seen. Regards, Peter 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Saunders Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 The other use is in reverse to try get your relief to a P'way train in the middle of nowhere! You know where you are but you then have to guide him to the nearest road access point! Mark Saunders Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grovenor Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 I don't understand how this works because my Satnav ETA is constantly updated so I can never arrive before the satnav time, Quite, but you can try, and the harder you try the faster you have to go Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PaulRhB Posted July 31, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 31, 2011 The fact they've admitted it in an insurance survey proves how dimwitted they are, I can see the premiums being higher in the areas mentioned too. We had a new system installed in the work vehicles that will eventually replace log books and provide data of exactly when and where we've been, that's fine by me but I do find it worrying that it monitors even when no route is selected for this and it has been anything up to 5 miles behind where I am! Now I wasn't racing and the further I got the further behind it got so it registered I was doing 70 (on a motorway as it happened), but was bleeping overspeed as it thought I was still in a 30 limit in Honiton 3 miles back! I then videoed it showing me driving along while i was actually sat in a car park. I submitted that to the boss to prove it was inaccurate. I dread to think how it functions as a satnav. I think I'll rely on the iPhone app which so far only got lost 3 times, in amongst skyscrapers in Vancouver, in the depths of the Fraser River canyon and alongside Loch Ness, (the locals told me it's the power lines next to the road interfere with the compass or something) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Welly Posted July 31, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 31, 2011 Don't have a satnav - prefer to stick with my road atlas, OS map or A-Z. However I do find Google Streetview very useful when planning a route as you can clearly see the road markings and which route to take. Also useful in finding a place to park as yellow lines and restriction signs can be easily seen. I agree with that! Google maps and streetview were VERY useful when I drove to RMWeb Day 2011 at Stafford, I was able to identify the landmark for the turnoff from the Uttoexeter road ( that black faced block of flats ) beforehand. By the way, Google maps forecasted that it would take me 2 hrs 8 minutes to drive to Stafford from home - I got there in 2 hrs 10 minutes which is spot-on! Having said that, if I can get a satnav with Maggie's voice, it would say,"NO NO NO" if I make the wrong turn and remind me not to U turn by saying,"This lady is not for turning" - also if directed through a rough area of town, "There is no such thing as society!" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coombe Barton Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Since getting my satnav late last year I've used it to get to and from work - not that I don't know the way but because if I have to avoid congestion I know whereabouts I am. I've had a GPS for years- take photographs of it when out taking photographs (if you see what I mean) then have an accurate OS Map Ref of where the pic is. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 I do have a Sat Nav - I have had one for several years and I find it a God-send. As I am usually in the car on my own, it isn't feasible to safely read a map while driving. I also make use of the expected arrival time to have an idea of when I am going to get somewhere. I would not like to be without this feature. I don't see why it should be "banned" because some clowns are using it to race against. Anyone who races on the public highway should have their license revoked. Full stop. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted August 1, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 1, 2011 I also make use of the expected arrival time to have an idea of when I am going to get somewhere. I would not like to be without this feature. I don't see why it should be "banned" because some clowns are using it to race against. Anyone who races on the public highway should have their license revoked. Full stop. Exactly. I use mine for getting to/from work, the ETA is a useful guide to my progress. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted August 1, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 1, 2011 I tend to use the map part purely as a moving map - a very useful aid although on some trips I do use the trip computer because it's sometimes handy to know miles run and save the bother of working out average speed and time etc in my head. For preplanning trips I tend to use Google Maps (although the route list that it offers has its shortcomings) plus copy blow-ups of the overall map for particular parts of the route and Google Maps is quite conservative on journey times and I only use it as a general guide time, not as a target. Far and away the best part of the whole satnav thing is the moving map display in my experience of the things. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim V Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 So there you are, 150 miles from home, it's dark, you're on your own and they have just shut the motorway. It's at that point you need the SatNav. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted August 1, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 1, 2011 So there you are, 150 miles from home, it's dark, you're on your own and they have just shut the motorway. It's at that point you need the SatNav. So there I am, it's sunny, it's 07:30, the roads are open but I have 32 miles of country lanes to cross, that's when I need my SatNav Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 If you were aware the motorway was shut ahead maybe finding the local BBC radio station may be a good idea too. Your SatNav could lead you to another closed route! SatNavs are just an aide, just like maps are - they're very useful if you're in a city you don't know where your typical atlas won't cover all the roads. But not much good if you're in Nottingham just after lots of roadworks where two way roads have become one way streets! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 So there I am, it's sunny, it's 07:30, the roads are open but I have 32 miles of country lanes to cross, that's when I need my SatNav No. You already have your satnav and it's just directed you down 32 miles of country lanes in preference to 32.5 miles along a straight 'A' road Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 But the country lanes are much more fun Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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