Do you drive with a GPS?

[Raziaar]

And do you follow the instructions given to you by a GPS?

To me driving with a GPS seems to be kind of a dangerous proposition for those so inept at navigation they trust it blindly. There's lots of stories out there where individuals have followed the GPS no matter where it led them. Some of them even dying.

Me, when I have to get somewhere I study a map and I memorize certain routes. There was one time that I missed a turn and had to have my brother use his GPS... but it was while parked at the side of the road and using it as a map.

Can people driving with a GPS even learn to navigate, or are they just bound to the crutch of voice navigation? I can't even imagine how they really stay focused on what's going on with the road and signage if they're just following everything spoken to them.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

Used to before I got pretty mad one night and just broke the charger. Terrible with directions. Get lost pretty easy. Pretty damn sad. No navigational skills. Even before I used one.

 

[Krynn72]

GPS used with a modicum of common sense is as surefire a way to get somewhere as can be. Navigating on your own accord with a map/direction list and your memory is far more dangerous and prone to failures.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

I've only used it a few times. I only glance at it as often as my speedometer to see that I'm on the highlighted route and how far from a turn I am. Beats the shit out of printing shit out from mapquest like a few years ago. I've missed an exit before and the thing compensated and got me back on track without wasting shitloads of time.

Stupid people will **** shit up no matter what they get their hands on. Damn functional retards.

 

[Krynn72]

I've driven from Connecticut to Louisiana, and then back, stopping at Memphis and Philadelphia on the way, using only GPS, no map or mapquest or anything. Got everywhere without missing a single turn, and arriving almost exactly when the GPS estimated I would.

My android phone's GPS even reroutes me based on traffic conditions. Try doing that with a radio and a map and tell me it ain't better with a GPS.

 

[Raziaar]

I've driven from Connecticut to Louisiana, and then back, stopping at Memphis and Philadelphia on the way, using only GPS, no map or mapquest or anything. Got everywhere without missing a single turn, and arriving almost exactly when the GPS estimated I would.

My android phone's GPS even reroutes me based on traffic conditions. Try doing that with a radio and a map and tell me it ain't better with a GPS.

Navigating cross country is not that hard with an updated map. Granted, it's best done with a copilot but really you stick to mostly state highways and you're fine. They crisscross the nation.

I've navigated from Texas to Alaska before using an old Rand Mcnally map and it wasn't that bad.

But if the person using the GPS is completely observant of everything around them, and wouldn't make a wrong turn into oncoming traffic simply because the GPS tells them to, or the top of a mountain or bottom of a reservoir of water, then I don't have much of an issue with it.

The people I see driving on the streets of Texas daily though, I have to wonder what kind of shit they're distracted by because they are not good drivers. Maybe they're caught in bad moments but it doesn't seem like they're aware at all of what's going on around them. I don't know if it's from the person they're talking to on the phone, the text messages they're sending, the makeup they're applying or the breakfast they're eating... but god damn.


There's a lot of people out there I believe that don't have the common sense. If that GPS tells them to turn right, they're going to turn right no matter what.

 

[Adabiviak]

No. I've fired mine up in the car maybe twice when I was in an unfamiliar city and was looking for a gas station. Both times, I pulled over and got the directions down in my head before proceeding.

 

[dfc05]

I don't drive here, but after watching other people use it, seems it'd be annoying. The main flaw I notice is that it fails to say the name of the street to turn on. I'd prefer to navigate with street names than something telling me to "turn left in 0.1 miles." Maybe it has to do with taking buses for so long, and being used to prepping myself on street names and google street view ahead of time. If you do miss a turn, the GPS can also take you through a bunch of small neighborhood roads when the most logical/comfortable reaction ought to be to find a main road and reorient yourself.

That said, I would still strongly consider owning a GPS, as a safety net in case I got lost.

 

[Viperidae]

>GPS
>trusting automatic route creation for Canadian maps
>turn left onto river

 

[Krynn72]

There's a lot of people out there I believe that don't have the common sense. If that GPS tells them to turn right, they're going to turn right no matter what.

Yeah, but do you really think that taking away their gps and giving them a map will actually help in this regard? It will make them even worse drivers I think. Like I said, all you need is a modicum of common sense to use a GPS safely. You need more than just common sense to navigate via map.

I don't drive here, but after watching other people use it, seems it'd be annoying.  The main flaw I notice is that it fails to say the name of the street to turn on.  I'd prefer to navigate with street names than something telling me to "turn left in 0.1 miles."  Maybe it has to do with taking buses for so long, and being used to prepping myself on street names and google street view ahead of time.  If you do miss a turn, the GPS can also take you through a bunch of small neighborhood roads when the most logical/comfortable reaction ought to be to find a main road and reorient yourself.

Only cheapass GPS systems these days don't use street names. The GPS app on my phone even says the street names. When I had my first standalone GPS that I bought for like $130 in 2006, it didn't have names, but I'm pretty sure you'd have to try real hard to find a modern one like that now.

One other thing I like about my GPS is that it lets me get lost without me having to fret about finding my way back. Often, if I'm not in any hurry, I'll try to find my own way by randomly taking roads I don't normally drive on and see if I can end up getting to my destination. This helps me learn the area better, and is more fun, but I wouldn't do it if I didn't have the GPS to get me out of a complete mind****.

 

[Raziaar]

>GPS
>trusting automatic route creation for Canadian maps
>turn left onto river

Yeah.

http://www.switched.com/2010/10/05/gps-leads-spanish-man-to-reservoir-and-a-watery-grave/

The 37-year-old man was driving home in his Peugeot 306 towards the city of Seville when his GPS instructed him to turn onto an old road that led him straight into the La Serena Reservoir. The two men managed to escape the sinking car, but only the passenger made it ashore; the driver drowned while trying to escape. A Red Cross spokesperson told the Telegraph, "Because it was dark they didn't see the water in time to brake and the vehicle sank within a few minutes." It's just another reminder to second guess anything your GPS tells you.

Yeah, but do you really think that taking away their gps and giving them a map will actually help in this regard? It will make them even worse drivers I think. Like I said, all you need is a modicum of common sense to use a GPS safely. You need more than just common sense to navigate via map.

One other thing I like about my GPS is that it lets me get lost without me having to fret about finding my way back. Often, if I'm not in any hurry, I'll try to find my own way by randomly taking roads I don't normally drive on and see if I can end up getting to my destination. This helps me learn the area better, and is more fun, but I wouldn't do it if I didn't have the GPS to get me out of a complete mind****.

Yeah I guess... though I'd rather they be lost than blindly following the damn thing. I once talked to somebody who said she doesn't know where she's going, she just listens to the GPS. Just punches in an address and goes. No real clue of where it is geographically.

That's scary.

 

[dfc05]

Only cheapass GPS systems these days don't use street names. The GPS app on my phone even says the street names. When I had my first standalone GPS that I bought for like $130 in 2006, it didn't have names, but I'm pretty sure you'd have to try real hard to find a modern one like that now.

Ah, I didn't realize that. The ones I've seen just say "Turn left in 0.1 miles;" 3 seconds later: "TURN LEFT." It seems more ideal to have it say "Turn left at Main St" like a human navigator would. But if they do that now.... well, that fixes that problem.

 

[Sulkdodds]

I don't drive, but I guess the equivalent would be using google maps on my phone to find my way around a city? I try not to do it too much because I feel that if I do I will not properly learn the streets. So I pull it out only when I'm either A) properly unsure where to go and have exhausted non-phone options like using my eyes to look at street names and my head to work out where I'm supposed to go, or B) when I'm in a real rush.

I love hearing GPS used in foreign countries. The computerised voice has no idea how to pronounce, say, Spanish street names, and will cluelessly intone "Car-sa del Pont-ee-woof" or whatever.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

I use my satnav often, well I used to until I got an android phone with navigation which does the same job. Very helpful for when I've gotta jump in the car and get somewhere quickly and all I have is the postcode. The devices aren't distracting whatsoever, I flick my vision over occasionally and listen but my entire focus is still on the road and finding the next turning and using signs for confirmation. You're a fool to follow them blindly, I've never had a railway or river issue but it has told me to turn into 'no entry' roads before but because you're still road aware and not an absolute idiot, you ignore it. Excellent piece of technology which is made my life easier.

 

[Raziaar]

I use my satnav often, well I used to until I got an android phone with navigation which does the same job. Very helpful for when I've gotta jump in the car and get somewhere quickly and all I have is the postcode. The devices aren't distracting whatsoever, I flick my vision over occasionally and listen but my entire focus is still on the road and finding the next turning and using signs for confirmation. You're a fool to follow them blindly, I've never had a railway or river issue but it has told me to turn into 'no entry' roads before but because you're still road aware and not an absolute idiot, you ignore it. Excellent piece of technology which is made my life easier.

You're not an absolute idiot... same isn't necessarily the case for your country mates(or the USA either).

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-st...d-for-causing-300-000-crashes-89520-20656554/

Around 1.5 million drivers have suddenly veered dangerously or illegally in busy traffic while following its directions.

And five million have been sent the wrong way down a one-way street.

One in 10 drivers with a satnav says following its instructions made them take a dangerous or illegal turn.

Twice as many blame the gadget for making them hesitate on a busy road and lose track of road traffic.

More than one in 50 - almost 300,000 drivers - say it has caused or nearly caused an accident.

Basically as I suspected. There's a huge number of idiots out there in the world that ARE complete idiots and trust their technology completely and abandon any sort of road sense they might have otherwise have.

Not everybody thankfully, like you.

 

[Yorick]

I don't/can't drive so I'm usually in the role of navigator, and I've actually had a few instances with GPS's with former roommates that tried to do things like drive us into lakes. Every now and then I'll use a GPS, but in general I'm much more comfortable just using a map.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

You're not an absolute idiot... same isn't necessarily the case for your country mates(or the USA either).

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-st...d-for-causing-300-000-crashes-89520-20656554/





Basically as I suspected. There's a huge number of idiots out there in the world that ARE complete idiots and trust their technology completely and abandon any sort of road sense they might have otherwise have.

Not everybody thankfully, like you.

Those statistics are terrifying mostly because when you're driving (and you consider yourself a decent enough driver) your focus is sometimes looking out for other drivers which are evidently bad or dangerous. There are plenty of them and the onus is usually on you to prevent an accident as they clearly don't care if they break their neck that afternoon!

I think the danger comes from people who are scared or worried about being lost and therefore rely completely on it to get them there and would rather accept the judgement of a machine rather than use their brain. I'm surprised there is that many people who are like that from those links you posted...I would rather they took the train or bus. You need confidence in yourself to drive properly and I reckon some of these people lack that BUT most of them are just lazy shites who can't be bothered to make decisions themselves.

I would feel comfort in natural selection adjusting the gene pool for these people but often its the other drivers which suffer.

 

[Vegeta897]

One in 10 drivers with a satnav says following its instructions made them take a dangerous or illegal turn.

following its instructions made them take a dangerous or illegal turn.

made them

Oh, right.

 

[Remus]

Oh, right.

We are the GPS, resistance is futile.

 

[Lucid]

Yeah, I rely pretty heavily on a GPS since I'm terrible at navigation and can't memorize routes worth a damn.

 

[Mogi67]

i really only use GPS when I'm going somewhere in a downtown area of a city that I'm unfamiliar with. Otherwise I just use a map/atlas or just glance at directions and then figure it out on the road. But I really enjoy getting lost unless I'm short on time. My favorite activity is getting in a car and just driving somewhere I've never been before. All roads connect at some point.

****, I went to Turkey a couple years ago, got off my bus in Istanbul, and I was in the middle of a city in which I had no guides, was by myself, and couldn't understand the language or read any signs. It was the best time of my life. Getting lost in your own city can be fun but being lost in another country is incredible

 

[Eejit]

I use it sometimes, particularly when I'm trying to find a particular place in a city or town I'm unfamiliar with and my destination is not a location important enough warrant signposts. Screw printing out google maps and peering at them... esp at night.
But yeah lots of other times when I have the GPS on I only use it to check ETA while following road signs. It's handy for that.

 

[Remus]

****, I went to Turkey a couple years ago, got off my bus in Istanbul, and I was in the middle of a city in which I had no guides, was by myself, and couldn't understand the language or read any signs. It was the best time of my life. Getting lost in your own city can be fun but being lost in another country is incredible

I think there might be something wrong with you.

 

[Sliver]

Yeah I use the navigation application from my Droid, works perfect most of the time. Will be using it to drive back home, hasn't given me problems yet.

 

[Mogi67]

I think there might be something wrong with you.

Yeah, I like exploring

 

[MJ12]

Almost always drive with a GPS when I am out of town. Like Krynn said GPS+Common Sense= Safer than just a Map.

I kind of feel naked without a GPS actually, I feel lonely on trips without that robotic female voice saying, "IN TWO POINT FIVE MILES, KEEP LEFT, THEN TAKE LEFT. STAY IN THE LEFT HAND LANE AND KEEP LEFT."
However there is something to be said about relying on the GPS too much. Just like if you rely too much on just googling shit your entire life, you tend to forget things.

 

[Dog--]

GPS used with a modicum of common sense is as surefire a way to get somewhere as can be. Navigating on your own accord with a map/direction list and your memory is far more dangerous and prone to failures.

How is it more dangerous? I've seen (on the internet) people turning just cause the voice told them to, and they end up inside a building or a ditch. Atleast with your memory you're still paying 100% attention to the road, even if you take a wrong turn atleast it's a safer wrong turn you made.

Like raz said I usually just memorize it or write out the directions and read it while parked. Or if I get lost and use my phone's GPS I pull over..