For all their benefits, are sat-navs a dangerous digital distraction? NSW Police traffic chief John Hartley says “In recent times, we have seen crashes and near misses involving drivers who rely only on the information provided by their GPS device.” I have friends in this category; the same friends who fap about with their iPod while on the highway.
It all comes down to personal responsibility, and I don’t see GPS devices being banned any time soon. Could voice activated units become compulsory at some point? You can’t hold a phone to your ear while driving, and you’re not supposed to install a DVD screen near the driver, so it’s all about minimising distraction.
The Daily Telegraph says in an NRMA test last year, drivers using a GPS over a 35km route glanced at the map about 90 times for up to 1.2 seconds each time (that’s up to 19 metres if you’re going at 60km/h). Kind of alarming when you see it expressed like that. Still, with their maps updated, GPS units don’t kill people. Bad drivers do. [Daily Telegraph]
wsDK_II
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 11:21 AMIdiots cause accidents
Phil
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 11:28 AMJust driving around from day to day you realise how many clueless people use our roads. The recently coined “smart phones do not smart people make” also applies in this situation and adds to the fact that common sense isn’t really that common.
James
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 11:38 AM+1
but oh well, when driverless cars come into play ill have fun knowing i can drive how i want to and the other cars will simply let me – cause they will be programmed to move out of the way! :D
RobB
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 11:24 AMYeah i think ill go back to sitting the refidex on my steering wheel while driving. Must be much safer.
Virus__
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 11:39 AMUsually we pull over to use the refedex :P
MrTaco
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 4:24 PMExcept about 90% of the time when you NEED to look at the street directory, you’re stuck somewhere where there is nowhere to pull over and look at it.
z3d
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 11:41 AMtechnology will never solve stupid and technology can’t stop stupid blaming it for an accident.
Mr Odd
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 6:46 PMThe French invented a technology to cure stupid: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine
reverse
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 12:01 PMhow did the guy reserve into the roof?
Icex
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 12:15 PMUmm, Used the ladder ?
reverse
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 1:40 PMand here i was thinking.. could it be the GPS?
Moses
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 12:27 PMHow ridiculous. You glance at other things by the side of the road; houses, cars etc. You dont literally keep your eye on the road for 100% of the trip and not glance elswhere. If you added up those times im sure you could also easily reach 19 metres. I dont find it alarming at all. It’s just the way it’s been expressed.
Glenn
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 12:34 PMPersonally I don’t rely solely on a GPS… I don’t own one, I borrowed one when I toured Tasmania… But I made the effort to learn where I had to go first and used the GPS to fine tune if I screwed up.
Agreed with wsDK_II, idiots cause accidents, and only an idiot would rely on their GPS and not take the time to learn their roads.
Especially those idiots that wind up driving into a river because their GPS told them to go that way…. WHAT?!?!
Lord Bob
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 2:20 PMTrue. I use mine as a rough guide. It usualy tries to add 10Km to my trip so if I know a better way I just ignore it and let it figure out the new path.
Theophilus
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 12:47 PMSo drivers are glancing at their GPS on the windscreen about the same amount of times they should be glancing at their rear view mirror…plus on a GPS you can check your speed without having to look down at the speedo. Once again, research based on just taking a wild guess. While driving the brain and eyes are already processing a lot of information, there are distractions everywhere. Accidents just come down to bad judgement or bad driving.
Iain
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 12:58 PMWhat about:
… drivers checking to ensure they stay within the speed limit over a 35km route glanced at the speedo about 180 times for up to 1.2 seconds each time (that’s up to 19 metres if you’re going at 60km/h) …
And they say that speed kills … using the same logic as provided above, it is “kind of alarming” how dangerous it is to comply with speed limits (and I’d look at my speedo at least much more than 2x as often as I look at the GPS)!
{Oh, and before anyone flames me, yes, I’m being deliberately cheeky …}
Kitfox
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 12:59 PMGPS and technology makes people DUMBER. It removes a key concept of driving and navigation. Memory. If I was going somewhere and traced my route on the map and memorised even 60% of the route then all i have to worry about when driving is where to turn at places.
People dont give enough credit to the human being and its enormour capability to keep information in his head. Navigation via GPS makes you not remember the road and rely on the device knowing the way for you and if you had to do the same route again chances are you still dont know the way and have to GPS it. I have a book in my car and use it as primary. the gps on my phone gets used about 1% of the time when there a major accidents and i need a quick alternate route to work.
Live was not meant to be easy. get used to it and rely on yourself to navigate the roads.
The focal point of the car in front is far forward than the GPS in your dash. switching vision focus between the two distracts the bran and shifts primary processing power in the wrong zone of control, so does changing CDs, fiddling with your missus thighs and slapping your kids arround in the back.
Lord Bob
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 2:48 PMAgreed
light487
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 at 1:30 PMThat is of course provided you’re a moron with zero memory to begin with. I’ve used the GPS to navigate to places that I need to return to and on the 2nd or sometimes 3rd trip have no needed to GPS because I remember where I am going.
I guess no matter how good the tech is, there will always be purists and haters.
Paul
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 1:01 PMThis generations P platers are the cause of their own demise. They can’t drive, simply put. They speed, they don’t respect anything or anyone on the road let alone their own vehicles even if they’re not their own.
cayal
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 1:04 PM+1
Sam
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 1:13 PMNot just this generation of P platers… I’d say it’s all generations of P platers.
Sicarius123
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 10:05 PMI guess you must think that is totally different to the 30-40 year old drivers on the road these days, who speed, can’t drive, tailgate, are overly aggressive and have no respect for anyone on the road. Plus the bank owns their car anyway, and it’s comprehensively insured, why should they care?
There are bad attitudes everywhere today, P platers are no better or worse than old farts.
cayal
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 1:05 PMKinda tired of everything else being blamed for the shortfalls of people.
Sicarius123
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 2:41 PMThe driving tests in Australia are too easy. People this easily distracted should never be on the road.
Sam
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 3:16 PMgetting your license in australia is too easy.
the problem with a gps device is that the driver doesn’t need to have a clue where they are going, then when it says “turn right” they cross 3 lanes to turn right.
i have the best form, a melways behined the drivers seat, if i need to use it, i READ it , i USE it.
the only thing that will bring accidents down, is smarter driving. and getting a license this easy is stupid…
ponderer
Monday, August 8, 2011 at 6:14 PMMaybe the Daily Telegraph should also do a study on how many times a driver, on average, looks at the dashboard/speedometer instead of the road while driving (especially near speed cameras).
light487
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 at 1:28 PMGot pulled over for an RBT the other day and after I pulled away I remembered I had my GPS on the middle of my dashboard. Obviously not considered to be a distraction in the place that it is.
I drove without a GPS for about 15 years and only just got mine this year. It has made such a huge difference to “reducing” the stress of driving in places I am unfamiliar with. In many places, around Sydney at least, there are many road segments that unless you are a local would confuse you and at the very least cause some amount of additional stress to the drive. It seems that the different councils have different ideas on what makes a road efficient and safe.
Modern GPS devices (as compared to the original models), used responsibility, can reduce the incident of accidents as they actually tell you “many kilometers” away from a turn that you will need to be turning. That’s the one thing that really shines for me.. I’m driving down some unknwon road and the GPS says (I mean on the screen) that in 3.7km I’ll need to do a right-hand turn. I don’t have to worry about trying to work out which street, I just have to get myself over to that lane in the next 3.7km.
Used by idiots, any tool can be dangerous.