SatNav Sends Woman To Her Death

[Guivre46]

Poor kid. 3 months of driving on her own, dark night, not familiar with route, of course she is going to rely on the sat nav and take it literally. It should be part of driving tuition to be told the pros and cons.
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Mike R [aka Wyvern46]
Go 530T - unsupported
Go550 Live [not renewed]
Kia In-dash Tomtom

[DennisN]

Today, several times, my satnav instructed me "Go left on the roundabout, first exit.". With lack of attention in the dark, that slip road could have been mistaken for the exit. Sure, we can see it isn't, but we've all seen funny turnings?

We still don't know if that one is the roundabout responsible. But my satnav demonstrates the very, very narrow dividing line between an embarrassing moment of inattention and the same slip having tragic consequences?
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Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

[DeLorean]

Let's just ban Sat Nav’s and go back to paper maps!

That'll reduce the amount of accidents (NOT!) and stop people blaming Sat Nav’s for their crappy driving skills!

If you have an accident because you’re distracted reading a paper map you’d be changed with driving without due care and attention, but if blindly following a Sat Nav you can use that as a scapegoat?
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🔸🔸 Currently using TomTom GO 940 & Locus Map 🔸🔸

[Guivre46]

I don't think blame should be part of it. I'm a much more relaxed driver with sat nav than I ever was with a map or a printed route. All I'm saying is that when the sat nav gives me a direction, I check that the road information signs agree, check that the voice and visual information on the sat nav are compatible, and then that the next signpost confirms I'm on the right road. That's because I've learnt that sat navs can have errors or mislead.
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Mike R [aka Wyvern46]
Go 530T - unsupported
Go550 Live [not renewed]
Kia In-dash Tomtom

[andyt8]

You're 100% GerryC all the ones I've heard do say "Take the first EXIT".

However, I must admit when I first drove with a sat nav with spoken directions (rather than an old GPS12 to tell me where I was on the map) I did become a bit "mesmerized" with following the voice and nearly forgot to check junction priority before following the directions thereby only just in time breaking abruptly at the left turn junction.

[pcaouolte]

I can see how an inexperienced driver, driving at night on unfamiliar roads could become confused by sat nav instructions.

Some of the instructions are not very consise. A TomTom will say 'Ahead, keep right' when it really means 'don't take the exit to the left' and ''Stay in the right lane" when it really means 'your next turn will be to the right but it may take quite a while to get there'.

Some exit instructions at roundabouts are incorrect as the entry road to the roundabout is marked as two-way in the map data, this leads the tomtom to count exits from the roundabout incorrectly.

Learner drivers could benefit from lessons in following sat nav instructions as they often use them very soon after passing their tests.
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Paul

[mostdom]

New report here
and here

[GerryC]

From the same article:

[DennisN]

Those are all pretty easy. My favourite hate is this one ... Test for yourself, navigate from N51.43950, W2.63031 to N51.44558, W2.61329 and do a route Demo.

At this junction, you turn off left, following the van in that left hand lane with the left turn arrow. TomTom says "After 400 yards, go straight on", then at the turning says "Go straight on."


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Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

[Guivre46]

DennisN, just out of interest, does the map display show the manoeuvre correctly?
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Mike R [aka Wyvern46]
Go 530T - unsupported
Go550 Live [not renewed]
Kia In-dash Tomtom

[Daggers]

There's one at junction of the A42 and M1 northbound which looks as if it might be similar to your picture Dennis. In my example you would stay on the main carriageway rather than the left hand exit lane. Tom-tom tells me to "take the exit right". I've looked hard but can never find one!
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Garmin DriveSmart 50 LMT-D

[DennisN]

The map display shows the correct maneuvre.

Yesterday I went through that junction with the need to go straight on and the instruction given was actually to turn left!!!

Try the same start point as above, with destination N51.45048, W2.61915 and the demo will tell you to turn left at this junction, not go straight on!


So for this left turn, it says GO STRAIGHT ON



And for this going straight on it says TURN LEFT.


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Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

[Guivre46]

Cheers Dennis. I don't know how common a problem this is, but, of all the TT map problems, it is the one that I come across most often. Shame isn't it, just when you need to concentrate on your driving, you have to check out the map display.
_________________
Mike R [aka Wyvern46]
Go 530T - unsupported
Go550 Live [not renewed]
Kia In-dash Tomtom

[DennisN]

It certainly makes you wonder how some people cope - we see from time to time how some drivers use only the verbal instructions, some even have the device almost hidden away.

For this particular place, it's my local stomping ground, I suppose, so I'm not really paying much attention to either the display or the instructions, but anybody unfamiliar with it would have a nice game! For unfamiliar areas, I'm running three devices, two on 2D display, one on 3D, so sometimes these foolishnesses are apparent on 2D, not so obvious on 3D (maybe Mark Kermode is right and we should avoid 3D?).
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Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

[Guivre46]

Agree. I use 3D when following a route I know, but need to monitor traffic and progress; and 2D when following a route I don't know. They used to call all these bits of knowledge and practice 'Roadcraft', and it includes sat nav use now.
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Mike R [aka Wyvern46]
Go 530T - unsupported
Go550 Live [not renewed]
Kia In-dash Tomtom

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