SatNav unsung safety feature

BodgerBaz · Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 5:36 am Post subject: SatNav unsung safety feature

I'm sure I'm preaching to the converted but I'm surprised that SatNav manufacturers don't mention the major feature of using their products in that it allows you to see the road ahead. They only seem to concentrate on getting you from A to B.

I've always been impressed with the way you can see the side roads and twists and turns of the road ahead when entering a think forest for instance.

Two nights ago I was much impressed with 'seeing' a clear road on my GO whilst driving 70 miles through unfamiliar country roads in very thick fog. I could 'see' most of the twists and turns and side roads well in advance and take appropriate action well in advance - despite not being able to see more than a few yards out the window.

I know TomTom gets a lot of stick - much of which is justified - but I am thankful to them for producing a brilliant safety feature and for getting my wife and I home safely in dreadful freezing fog.

I've used SatNav in various guises over the last few years and still view it in the same way I view a jumbo jet taking off. I understand the principals but I still don't believe it 8O

To think that for just a couple of hundred pounds you can point at a map position, anywhere in Europe, and it will guide you them . . . . fantastic.

. . . . . sorry to have rambled on so but that's what you get when you can't sleep . . . . must be excited about Christmas Wink

zogman · Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 10:59 am Post subject:

i do the same as you mate when driving unfamiliar roads...you can anticipate bends and slow down accordingly...great feature..
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Andy_P · Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 12:54 pm Post subject:

Please don't depend on it like this.
I too have been so pleased by this aspect, that it is tempting to use it almost like an auto pilot! But many, many times I've nearly been caught out by the display showing what seems to be a straight-through route with a couple of side turnings, when in reality it has turned out to be a major road crossing, with MY road covered in Give Way or Stop signs.

And if, as you say, you can't see more than a few yards out of the window, using ANYTHING that gives you a false sense of security might make you drive just that little bit faster, and NO satnav will tell you about the tractor coming the other way!

zogman · Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 1:23 pm Post subject:

agreed , i dont rely on but use it as an addition to the road layout and conditions..
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lbendlin · Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 2:57 pm Post subject:

it's particularly helpful when your road is covered in snow, and it has been a while since the last car made tracks. Helped me two years ago to find a motorway exit in the middle of the night with nobody else around (they were all smart enough not to drive). I would have never found the exit without the device, and I was also a bit doubtful but it proved to be right.
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trog100 · Regular Visitor Joined: Sep 15, 2006 Posts: 195

be very very doubtfull when near any cliffs.. he he he

or even going down the A1 in certain places..

trog

LesP2008 · Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 3:19 pm Post subject:

Agreed, this is a very useful aspect of the mapping and whilst Andy is right in saying that we should not allow ourselves to become complacent, it still is a major plus factor having it there like a third eye.

DennisN · Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 5:19 pm Post subject:

idiot53 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 02, 2006 Posts: 15

AHA! you see, I was right. I've complained about the missing rivers on the latest Navteq Euro maps for this very reason. I have no wish to navigate along the rivers but it's reassuring to know when I'm near one. Merry Christmas Wink

MikeB · Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 6:35 pm Post subject:

rugrat2 · Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 6:51 pm Post subject:

Wouldnt you have thought, with technology as good as it is nowadays.someone might bring out some kind of night vision windscreen glass ....sorry rambling again.... Idea

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zogman · Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 7:28 pm Post subject:

trog100 · Regular Visitor Joined: Sep 15, 2006 Posts: 195

anything that makes u feel safer in fog is bad news..

all it takes is for a stationary vehicle to be in front of u and u will hit it..

by the time u realize the lights appearing out of the fog arnt in actual fact moving a little slower than u its too late u hit them..

the safest option is to follow someone else.. u have their seeing distance and your own.. they hit it u just manage to stop.. then someone hits u.. he he he

bin in a couple of those "motorway madness" things several miles long a few years back.. we dont seem to get so much fog nowadays thankfully..

trog

classy56 · Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 10:32 pm Post subject:

BodgerBaz · Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 11:09 pm Post subject:

I think some of you have missed the point somewhat. I did not suggest that looking at TomTom would tell you whether the road was clear or not.

If you want that facility its called radar and it will cost you a darn sight more than a few hundred pounds.

I merely suggested that it gave an impression of your surroundings that may not be visible because of a forest or fog.

I did not suggest that it was any substitute for looking out of the windscreen or for gunning it into the abyss just because the road 'looked' straight.

Jeeezzzzzzzz

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