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Helping Motorists Focus At Government 1st Ever SatNav Summit
Article by: rob brady
Date: 6 Jan 2012
Norman Baker, Local Transport Minister, is preparing to host the UK’s first ever Sat-Nav Summit this March to help motorists with their journeys.
The main area up for discussion is in regards to the problems faced by drivers of high-sided or large vehicles, such as lorries. These motorists can sometimes fall foul of Sat-Nav directions which are out of date, leading them to encounter difficulties on the road.
This issue has already been partly addressed with earlier reports revealing that local authorities were being given the power to reclassify A and B roads in their local area, hoping to resolve Sat Nav issues.
Baker labelled the current problems experienced be motorists as the "scourge of local communities" and explained that the summit is "timely" as the new regulations concerning the ability of local authorities to reclassify roads will be introduced in April.
In response to news of the summit, motoring body IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) claimed that they "welcomed" the summit, but emphasised their belief that "high quality and consistent signposting will always be the best way to ensure that drivers get the information they require."
The advice is, therefore, for drivers to use Sat-Nav systems as guides when driving rather than following them blindly. A combination of improved Sat-Nav maps, reclassified roads and effective signposting could help to ensure drivers get the best possible experience whilst out on the roads, reducing the number of errors made during journeys.
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 Posted by M8TJT on Fri Jan 06, 2012 2:33 pm |
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| News Team Wrote: | | These motorists can sometimes fall foul of Sat-Nav directions which are out of date, |
But it's not neccessarily the maps which are out of date (even though most are), it's more to do with the routing algorythm and perhaps the user chosing 'shortest route' wich will take you down narrow lanes. As has been pointed out dozens of times elsewhere, it's also truck drivers not having a truck devicve, but most of all, people not using their common sense. How on earth will the government impart the common sense to people????
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| Posted by worried on Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:33 pm |
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for my Sins I have an oldish Navman N20 which suits my use, it seldom lets me down, Scotish Highlands, Welsh hinterlands, Cornish cart track roads and has radio blockage reporting built in. But Navman no longer update the maps, so you can be steaming up the A1 and the ruondabouts have disappeared, but still on the map
will be intersting when the know nothing MP's get involved
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| Posted by alix776 on Fri Jan 06, 2012 8:20 pm |
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Hgv maps and devices are priced at a premium with many Satnavs priced out of the reach of many drivers for some reason many software house beleive that employers are buying these devices when the main buyers for the devices are drivers themselves. U till maps updates comedown to more realistic prices the. The problem will persist. Also many companies that are buying devices in the current climate are opting for standard satnav over veihcle specific devices
The goverment wants faster map updates with the rate that councils change and impliment one way systems and weight limits I very much doubt that teleatlasband navteq will be able to keep up
currently using aponia truck navigation on windows phone. Good bye IOS don't let the door hit you on the way out .
Oh the joys of being a courier.
device Lumia 950 xl |
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| Posted by MaFt on Fri Jan 06, 2012 8:51 pm |
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personally i'd say that a map update at £30 is pretty good value!
the big players also do lifetime updates usually at around £60-£100 that gives you 4 updates a year for the life of your satnav.
even if you only keep a satnav for 3 years that's only £20-£30 per year for keeping maps up to date. when you consider that you pay £20-£30 per week for fuel it's not that bad really, is it?
MaFt
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| Posted by theripper on Fri Jan 06, 2012 11:04 pm |
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| MaFt Wrote: | personally i'd say that a map update at £30 is pretty good value!
the big players also do lifetime updates usually at around £60-£100 that gives you 4 updates a year for the life of your satnav.
even if you only keep a satnav for 3 years that's only £20-£30 per year for keeping maps up to date. when you consider that you pay £20-£30 per week for fuel it's not that bad really, is it?
MaFt |
MaFt
I think Alix was talking about HGV maps which are not covered by the same update system - you have to buy a complete map every time at full price.
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| Posted by spook51 on Sat Jan 07, 2012 8:02 am |
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| MaFt Wrote: | | personally i'd say that a map update at £30 is pretty good value! |
You might, I don't - and won't until I know what changes/additions have been made in each update.
| MaFt Wrote: | | the big players also do lifetime updates usually at around £60-£100 that gives you 4 updates a year for the life of your satnav. |
TomTom (one of the biggest players I believe) doesn't. If it did, I might be persuaded to update the maps on my 940. As things stand, with my usage, I can't justify the expense. In pre-satnav days (which includes years when I drove many more miles around Europe than I do now) I only bought a new road atlas every 3-4 years and managed well enough.
| MaFt Wrote: | | even if you only keep a satnav for 3 years that's only £20-£30 per year for keeping maps up to date. when you consider that you pay £20-£30 per week for fuel it's not that bad really, is it? |
I may pay £20-£30 a week on fuel but not all my journeys require the use of satnav. I would guess that's true of many car drivers.
As James May said on the radio, it's not your satnav that made you drive through a boutique window, it's your stupidity.
As long as drivers blindy follow their satnav's instructions, lorries will continue to get stuck in Somerset alleys and coaches will end up in fields. What's needed is commonsense on the part of users, nothing more. Cheaper and more frequent map updates won't solve anything until drivers decide to think for themselves.
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| Posted by bmuskett on Mon Jan 09, 2012 12:50 pm |
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And even if they do produce cheaper and more frequent updates, what proportion of drivers will actually apply them? I suspect a majority of sat navs are never updated.
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| Posted by spook51 on Mon Jan 09, 2012 3:56 pm |
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| bmuskett Wrote: | | And even if they do produce cheaper and more frequent updates, what proportion of drivers will actually apply them? I suspect a majority of sat navs are never updated. |
I suspect you're right.
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| Posted by mike170469 on Tue Jan 10, 2012 1:56 pm |
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| MaFt Wrote: |
the big players also do lifetime updates usually at around £60-£100 that gives you 4 updates a year for the life of your satnav.
MaFt |
I have a Truck Garmin with the map updates 4 times a year and if I have a problem I send Navteq the map update.
As a Artic Truck diriver a out of date sat nav is more in date than most A to Z's and cheaper then buying maps for every town in th UK
We got lost on the road before Sat Nav came along. But now it hits the Headlines so that they can blame the Sat Nav
WAZE app
GARMIN NUVI 465T (Truck) CN EUROPE NT 2014.10
Citeron C8 in car Navteq 2011/12 |
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| Posted by DennisN on Tue Jan 10, 2012 6:27 pm |
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I have always thought it was the quality of the maps at fault here. In the UK there are quite a lot of road classes, down to at least D, plus unclassified. But the satnav suppliers/mappers are not using them - hence drivers being sent down "60mph" country lanes!
Dennis
If it tastes good - it's fattening.
Two of them are obesiting!! |
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| Posted by spook51 on Wed Jan 11, 2012 2:10 pm |
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I always thought UK roads are classified: motorways, A roads and B roads. All others are unclassified as far as the motorist is concerned.
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