Sat-nav systems cause accidents: study

[vztrt]

http://www.caradvice.com.au/131625/s...cidents-study/

Sat-nav systems cause accidents: study
By Brett Davis | August 8th, 2011

According to a recent police study, GPS satellite navigation systems have caused a spike in road accidents due to drivers paying attention to the guidance rather than the road. The study says GPS devices distract drivers in a similar way to mobile phones.

New South Wales Police traffic boss John Hartley said in a recent News Ltd report that drivers who were confused about directions from such devices often caused accidents in trying to understand the guidance, instead of safely pulling over to double-check.

“In recent times, we have seen crashes and near misses involving drivers who rely only on the information provided by their GPS device,” Mr Hartley said.

A spokeman from the RTA also gave some similar advice on the potential problem with GPS systems, saying in the same report,

“If you are unfamiliar with the road or unsure of where you are going, slow down and make sure you leave yourself enough time to indicate to other drivers if you need to turn or pull over.”

In a recent test, a range of drivers were studied during the course of a 35km trip that involved the use of a GPS. The drivers were noted as looking at the device up to 90 times for an average time of 1.2 seconds. Some drivers have been known to pay a lot more attention to the device than that.

The report revealed last year a family travelling using a sat-nav system became lost for three days due to the system giving incorrect guidance, and the family relying so much on that guidance. CarAdvice also reported on a driver in the UK that was so transfixed by the sat-nav system directions that she drove her car into a lake.

It’s an interesting topic. Perhaps one day sat-nav systems will be banned while the car is moving, similar to many factory setups. Do you think sat-nav systems have the potential to be as dangerous as mobile phones? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

[2011G6E]

Remember the one with Clarkson halfway across a bridge and the sat nav said "make a right turn now"...?

So far the one in our G6E has been good...I usually leave the voice turned down a fair bit, unless we really need the vocal instructions, but then I just keep an eye on the road and listen.

[NC1183]

I reckon they get more people lost then where they were wanting to go, especially around towns/sections of highway with recent road-way upgrades or currently under upgrades.

[new2ford]

A bit like driving constantly watching the speedometer rather then the road eh?

[geckoGT]

Probably not a good idea to bait this into a speed related slanging match.

Any distraction is going to cause crashes if the driver is not aware or cares about the issue, end of story. this is no different for mobile phones, map books, car stereos, bill boards on the side of the road etc, they can all end in the same result.

It would be a long list to ban every distraction I have seen cause a crash, much better to change driver attitudes. How to change those attitudes is a whole new can of worms and I am thinking I will leave the lid on that one.

[Tonz]

This may sound crazy but when I use one, I only use the sound
Your looking ahead at the road....a voice says at the 3rd cross turn right.. so you keep looking ahead for the third cross ...what the stuff are you looking at a dopey little screen thats buried out of normal eye sight.

In 45 years of driving if in a new place ALWAYS read and memorise street directory, only once ever got lost and that was 3 hours after arriving in Los Angeles ... I was taking my directions from the position of the sun but dummy me the sun is suddenly south of you not north.
I was in Perth recently, I knew where I was going ...6 different places around the city in one day, picked up a rental and had this bl***y annoying little voice yapping away suddenly the window was open and the little f***er was free ... out the window it went.

[SEZ213]

Personally, I'm not a fan of sat nav...when I moved to Brisbane, I got lost on purpose to find my way around...

On the odd chance that I do use one, I find I'm less instinctive and more reactive...and I don't think those two in that combo are a recipe for anything good...

[deesun]

Originally Posted by NC1183

I reckon they get more people lost then where they were wanting to go, especially around towns/sections of highway with recent road-way upgrades or currently under upgrades.

A new section of the Pacific Highway at Ballina has a lighted trailer sign that says "ïgnore GPS, new road ahead" I had a laugh but thought it was a good idea.

[uranium_death]

I don't have a GPS. I use a Melway.
I expect that skill to soon elevate me to being a genius - one of the few that still have the skill to read a map.

[TheInterceptor]

I dont use a GPS. The only map in my truck is a Country road map which i havent used yet.
If i have to go to a specific location that i dont know, before leaving home, open google maps, study for a couple of mins, maybe write some notes to-go and be on my merry way.

So far it hasnt failed me.

Bugger them technological things....spend more time fiddling and shouting at them than when using a normal map....

[FgNewbie]

I'm often bewildered where GPS units get mounted.

I saw a taxi yesterday with the GPS dead bang in front of the driver's line of vision. Scarey.

If I need to use my GPS, I check a map first. These days I tend to leave the GPS on the console and listen to voice instructions only and pull over if necessary. (One trip I was told to turn left into a one way street... the wrong way).

Technology is a great tool if used wisely... otherwise I'm sure it could be deadly :(

[geckoGT]

I am going to go against the grain a bit here.

I am going to suggest that many of the troubles people have with sat nav units both from a function and safety point of view may stem from a lack of familiarity and practice.

Many of the older paramedics actively avoided using the sat nav units saying they did not work and kept using the map book. Now most of them have gotten used to the sat nav and use them very successfully.

And this need for signs to instruct people not to follow the sat nav through road works, ridiculous, did we ned signs telling us to ignore the map book before sat nav?

[FgNewbie]

did we ned signs telling us to ignore the map book before sat nav?

no, we were too busy reading them on our laps

[fmc351]

Lost for 3 days? Wut? And Im going to go out on a limb and say people blame their GPS for inattention, or some other cause of driving into a lake.

i can see them being a distraction and if youre looking at it in traffic you might run a red, drift into another lane or run up someones bum etc, but drive into a lake? Or be lost for 3 days, what no sleep, food, nothing? Didnt think to ask when refuelling on the 3 day odyssey?

[geckoGT]

Originally Posted by FgNewbie

no, we were too busy reading them on our laps

I was going to raise that point but chickened out.

[FgNewbie]

Originally Posted by geckoGT

I was going to raise that point but chickened out.

I forgot to add.... back in the days when we could see that far

[mik]

it`s pretty much common sense, if your having difficulty getting on track, pull up where it`s safe and have check out the gps properly.....or the melways, but it`s too hard for some.

[Jim Goose]

Unfortunately some of us have become so relient on technology that we just simply go along with what the machine tells us to do.

Using our brain is just tooooo hard. Besides if the GPS is telling us where to go it keeps our brains free to talk on the phone.

I have seen cars with 2 GPS's mounted on the windscreen... maybe someone can explain that on to me?

[geckoGT]

Originally Posted by Jim Goose

Unfortunately some of us have become so relient on technology that we just simply go along with what the machine tells us to do.

Using our brain is just tooooo hard. Besides if the GPS is telling us where to go it keeps our brains free to talk on the phone.

I have seen cars with 2 GPS's mounted on the windscreen... maybe someone can explain that on to me?

So many truths there in my opinion.

By the way, 2 sat navs? I have no idea, perhaps they were following the average of the two units. Perhaps they always need to be told everything twice.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by geckoGT

So many truths there in my opinion.

By the way, 2 sat navs? I have no idea, perhaps they were following the average of the two units. Perhaps they always need to be told everything twice.

OR, one wasn't a "satnav". Although I have on more than one occasion run 3 or 4 satnavs concurrently usually to observe the differences in the way they operate.

To me GPS is brilliant.

Driving in a foreign place in difficult conditions such as reduced visibility, high traffic or closed roads by yourself can be fatiguing so having the happly little voice letting you know that just because some moron blocked your exit or the route is congested and suggesting an alternate is worth the price of the gizmo even if used only once.

As well as an ACCURATE speedo, something that the majority of vehicles lack and an indication of what may be ahead (my XOOM satnav actually has the route superimposed on a satellite image) the gizmos allow for more concentration on the road and surroundings rather than attempting to look at a map that is bouncing aroung on your lap or you are holding up on one hand especially when it is dangerous or even illegal to pull over to the side of the road.

[aussie muscle]

There was an incident in melbourne where a new road was being built and people were driving on it because the gps said so.

my sister in law has a tom-tom that often gets lost, so she calls it the dum-dum.
i personally find them a great tool when i visit the city. not much good in remote areas, my nav man hated me when i turned up a back-road short cut to home. it had no road registered there and kept saying "recalculating"

[RAREV8]

Originally Posted by geckoGT

I am going to go against the grain a bit here.

I am going to suggest that many of the troubles people have with sat nav units both from a function and safety point of view may stem from a lack of familiarity and practice.

Many of the older paramedics actively avoided using the sat nav units saying they did not work and kept using the map book. Now most of them have gotten used to the sat nav and use them very successfully.

And this need for signs to instruct people not to follow the sat nav through road works, ridiculous, did we ned signs telling us to ignore the map book before sat nav?

Spot on. I use them constantly and have done for about 7 years or so.........they are very useful for predicting traffic congestion, working out your arrival times (pretty important when driving 700kms in a day for meetings) and looking for local points of interest etc.
I agree that placement is quite important- they should be close to line of sight but hopefully not obscuring the view of the road. I tend to think that having it central would be better than having it to the RHS of the driver but i see quite a few mounted there?

[TheSneakiness]

I like my Satnav purely based on the current speed that I'm doing. I know full well my speedo is out by 5% on average so after using the Satnav for a little while I now know what I can sit on using the speedo in the car and not get caught out.

However I find it distracting from a visual perspective and slightly distracting especially in an area I have never been to before. If the unit tells me to turn left in 500mt and I'm in the wrong lane my first reaction is to panic.

You could probably guess that its that same reaction that would cause these accidents.

[burnz]

maybe car advice's way of saying to the RTA we need better more concise signage...

the signage in sydney CBD is a joke for our tourist friends..confusing at best.

[Franco Cozzo]

I don't know how to read maps, and the voice on my phone GPS gives me the poops.

So I just drive around in circles for a few hours until I eventually find my way.

[Landau Stable]

I'm old school and will never purchase a satnav. (only 30 btw) However, a few weeks back i used the GF's satnav to take her to the airport, which is an area i stay clear of. It was mounted to the right in the far corner of the screen. The voice over was annoying and hard to hear, but the simple thing is, as soon as i heard the voice, i took a look and spotted the highlighted intersection on the map. one quick glance is enough, and then i knew i had to turn right or left etc at the next upcoming place. the people who blame these things for a crash are morons who shouldn't drive, or are using them as a scapegoat to cover up their innattention or other stupid behaviour.

[NAK302]

the best navigation system i've got sits on my left and punches me in the arm if i miss a turn i've had her for 15 years and never been let down or had an accident

[Danny]

Originally Posted by GT-0733

the best navigation system i've got sits on my left and punches me in the arm if i miss a turn i've had her for 15 years and never been let down or had an accident

Yeah I think I know the model. It's the TomTom W1f3. It's fairly complicated to use and You cannot turn the volume down.

[Scooter79rs]

I have a GPS it's so far been more reliable then Google Maps. I mainly use mine as a hands free for the phone. I barely use mine for giving directions, I find the map feature as you can take a quick glance at and I can see how far away the road I need is.
I do know how to read a map and I keep a street directory with me at all times.

[MAD]

I used to follow a melway until I got a smartphone, now GPS is often used.
Follwing a map is one thing, but trying to find the street sign at the intersection is often another ordeal altogether.