Sat Navs

[Minilad]

200 bhp with 99g/km co2 so free road tax as well on one of the engines

I think there is a hybrid version too

 

[richw]

Is the 200bhp 99g/km not the hybrid?

 

[Minilad]

Is the 200bhp 99g/km not the hybrid?

Not sure. Possible. The one I looked around wasn't a hybrid but was a diesel

 

[GB]

Sat Nav combined with Google street view and a bit of prior research is a powerful combination!

 

[WestCoast]

I've had two satnavs; started off with a basic Garmin and then bought a Navigon (the company was bought by Garmin recently).

The Navigon looks sleek, it's good at mapping routes, gives very clear and timely instructions, has an excellent "junction guidance view", but it's absolutely dreadful at estimating arrival times. It's overoptimistic to the point of being ridiculous (like 1h15mins from Preston to York on the A59 - not a chance!) and there's nothing in the settings that I can find to adjust. :roll: Bizarre, since the basic Garmin was always roughly right if the traffic was OK.

 

[LE Greys]

I have an ability to memorise a map and route. It is very helpful!

I also never forget how to get anywhere i have ever been. It is mental and Rainmanalike!

Used to have that myself ten years ago. Now, it's just gone. Not entirely sure why, but I never seem to be able to remember anything, including the meaning of "left" and "right" on some occasions. Early Onset Dementia isn't supposed to happen at 27! Still, whatever it is, it's left me more dependent on notes and technology.

 

[Tomonthetrain]

Satnav? What's that? I use a good old map book and pencil to plan the route prior to leaving. No need for this modern fancy equipment. Back in my day we never had this Satnav stuff!

 

[GearJammer]

I'm blessed with a good sense of direction for a woman. And i know how to read a map, my car has built in sat-nav, but to be honest the bloody woman drives me batty, so leave it switched off now.

I live in a village with a very narrow canal bridge, and the amount of artics that have found themselves directed that way have been quite high. Most of the drivers had the ability to see that their vehicle wouldn't get through, while a few have completely wedged themselves in....quite a spectacle to see!!

Well if its that narrow the road in question should have a 6ft 6 width restriction on it and the trucks should'nt go down there anyway, regardless of what the crap-nav says!


Like i said before, you won't find any crap-navs in my truck, map books all the way, with occasional reference to google maps/street view which comes in handy for finding individual adresses on roads.

In my opinion, if you can't drive and use a map to direct yourself around then you should really question wether you should be behind the wheel in the first place, crap-navs are for lazy people who blindly follow directions, and 9 times out of 10 when they follow a crap-nav they don't know where they are, where they been, or where there going!

 

[deltic1989]

Some interesting opinions here, I've only used my Sat-Nav to find places in towns and cities that I don't know very well and for that purpose its ideal, but for longer journeys or for intercity travel, then I will get my book of maps out and write down my route, and if I think I have made a mistake i will pull over and check the map.
I have heard stories about when sat-navs have been used for lon distance driving and GJ's comments about disorientation are very valid.

I think Jeremy Clarkson once told a story of a German (or Polish) Truck Driver, who wanted to get to Gibraltar (The Rock), but ended up down a narrow lane near Skegness (for those not famlilliar with the area there is a place near Skegness called Gibraltar Point). What amazes me about this story is that at some point this guy must have got on the Chunnel or a Ferry and at no point did he think "Hang on a Minuite".

So my full opinion on sat navs is that they are handy to find a street or adress in an area you don't know, but for the longer of the journeys my sat nav stays in the glove compartment and I'll take the AA road atlas.

 

[Geezertronic]

My built-in Audi Sat Nav makes me laugh when she tells me to turn slightly left (even if it is the 2nd left)

Of course with it being built in, it would be a lot to purchase a new disc from Audi if I wanted the updated maps

 

[WestCoast]

In my opinion, if you can't drive and use a map to direct yourself around then you should really question wether you should be behind the wheel in the first place, crap-navs are for lazy people who blindly follow directions, and 9 times out of 10 when they follow a crap-nav they don't know where they are, where they been, or where there going!

A sat-nav should be used as an aid for navigation. It shouldn't replace the map or following signs. I find sat-navs useful when it comes to busy, complex junctions where you need to be concentrating on the traffic around you and also for the purpose of finding addresses in unfamiliar urban areas. I would never blindly follow the sat-nav without having a reasonable route planned.

It's not the machine, it's the owner!

 

[richw]

apparently on the driving test now there is an independent driving bit, where you have to navigate to a set location with no instruction, just using sign posts etc.

 

[Zoe]

apparently on the driving test now there is an independent driving bit, where you have to navigate to a set location with no instruction, just using sign posts etc.

In some cases the examiner will give you a series of directions to follow rather than just tell you to follow road signs for the indepedent driving. If this is the case then the examiner will also show you a diagram.

 

[90019]

apparently on the driving test now there is an independent driving bit, where you have to navigate to a set location with no instruction, just using sign posts etc.

You can't be failed on getting it wrong, though.

It's not really about navigation, it's more to do with showing that you know where to be on the road, how to position yourself for upcoming junctions without being told which way you're going on the approach, and just generally knowing when to make your move.

 

[Zoe]

You can't be failed on getting it wrong, though.

Unless you attempted to join a motorway.

 

[jon0844]

That would be a fail for a different reason.

 

[Zoe]

That would be a fail for a different reason.

It would still be as a result of getting the direction wrong though.

 

[90019]

It would still be as a result of getting the direction wrong though.

The examiner would stop you before you managed to make the, and no, you wouldn't be failed for going in the wrong direction.

Yes, there are things they can fail you on as a result of going the wrong way, but they cannot fail you for going the wrong way.

 

[Zoe]

The examiner would stop you before you managed to do that, and no, you wouldn't be failed on it.

If the examiner has to physically intervene to stop you going on the motorway then you could fail.

 

[90019]

If the examiner has to physically intervine to stop you going on the motorway then you could fail.

I changed the wording slightly, because what I originally put was a little ambiguous.

As I say, you cannot be failed for going the wrong way, at any point in the driving test.
You can be failed on the consequences of going the wrong way, but not for the actual going the wrong way part.

 

[Zoe]

You can be failed on the consequences of going the wrong way, but not for the actual going the wrong way part.

So if you tried going on a motorway, would they intervene by taking hold of the wheel to prevent you breaking the law? I read a story once about someone that tried to join a motorway on a test and was stopped on a slip road and the examiner just to them they had failed and left them there.

 

[90019]

So if you tried going on a motorway, would they intervene by taking hold of the wheel to prevent you breaking the law?

The only time an examiner would grab the steering wheel would be in a situation such as to avoid a collision, and even then, it would be a very last resort.
If you tried to join a sliproad, they would initially instruct you not to, and if you carried on, would use the dual controls to stop the car. If in a car without dual controls, they would tell you to stop, and possibly use the handbrake to try and stop the car. In both cases, intervention is not something that is done lightly, and will not happen until it absolutely has to.
At the point where they have to use the dual controls, it is deemed that they have had to intervene, and you automatically fail. As I said previously, this may be because you have taken a wrong turn, but you have not been failed for taking a wrong turn.

I read a story once about someone that tried to join a motorway on a test and was stopped on a slip road and the examiner just to them they had failed and left them there.

Sounds distinctly like bullsh*t to me. If it's true, I'd expect the examiner to have been handed their P45 rather quickly.


Out of curiosity, Zoe, how many driving tests have you taken/passed in the last few years?
(Though I still very much doubt you actually have a driving licence, considering the way you basically parrot the highway code but seem to have no actual driving knowledge).

 

[richw]

So if you tried going on a motorway, would they intervene by taking hold of the wheel to prevent you breaking the law? I read a story once about someone that tried to join a motorway on a test and was stopped on a slip road and the examiner just to them they had failed and left them there.

Another one of your vivid imagination stories! An examiner would not stop them on the slip road, as that is more dangerous than them actually driving on the motorway.

 

[Zoe]

Another one of your vivid imagination stories!

It is not, I do not make up stories. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/weeping-learner-driver-left-on-slip-road-1117681.html

 

[90019]

Out of curiosity, Zoe, how many driving tests have you taken/passed in the last few years?
(Though I still very much doubt you actually have a driving licence, considering the way you basically parrot the highway code but seem to have no actual driving knowledge).

Going to actually answer?
Or will you do your usual of either ignoring it or saying it's irrelevant?

 

[Zoe]

There are are people these days that have passed a driving test but just do everything the sat-nav says. By introducing indepdent driving to the test it shows you can drive indepently without having to rely on a sat-nav to tell you there is a junction ahead.

 

[90019]

By introducing indepdent driving to the test it shows you can drive indepently without having to rely on a sat-nav to tell you there is a junction ahead.

If you believe that's what it's for, then you don't understand the point of the independent drive.

Going to actually answer?
Or will you do your usual of either ignoring it or saying it's irrelevant?

Ignoring it then, I take it.

 

[Zoe]

If you believe that's what it's for, then you don't understand the point of the independent drive.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/DG_188282

At present, examiners give candidates step-by-step instructions during the test. For other parts of the test, this will still be true. But during the independent driving section of the test, the examiner will ask you to drive by either following a series of directions, following traffic signs, or a combination of both.

To help you understand where you’re going, the examiner may show you a diagram. It doesn't matter if you don't remember every direction, or if you go the wrong way - that can happen to the most experienced drivers. Independent driving is not a test of your orientation and navigation skills.

Driving independently means making your own decisions - this includes deciding when it’s safe and appropriate to ask for confirmation about where you’re going.

It's quite clear it's about making your own decisions, not just following directions you are told regardless of if you are told by an examiner or a sat-nav.

 

[90019]

Note;

Independent driving is not a test of your orientation and navigation skills.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

You will not be penalised in independant driving for going in completely the wrong direction. The point of doing it is to introduce the driver to road layouts and conditions they may not have encountered before to see if they can drive safely in unfamiliar areas with little
to no guidance.


Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk