Click me

You are travelling up the purple road in the middle of the screen. How far away is the next junction on the left? Quick, you only have a second or so, now look back at the road ... !

So you glance at your mirror, good. Now you glance at the speedo (how often do you do this at night?). Now you glance at your satnav (damn where was I again?). Quick look at the road (still dark, but I've got a bright pink line running up the middle - oh, that'll be a persistent image from the satnav). Looks clear, back to the satnav (damn, where was I again?)...

Its a garmin, no wonder:rofl: dont have this problem on a TT1 you also need to be able to flick the eyes at it and back at the road, not sit there staring at it waiting to see if a rabbit will pop its head out from behind the bend on the sat nav (which it wont, trust me).

Like anonomouse said, i think its best to agree to disagree as it works fine for me and i drive for a living and not crashed using a sat nav, maybe one day you should come out for a night drive with me and ill show you the benefits and how safe it is....

smstext

Driving at night and glancing things such as sat nav to help you get a feel for what's ahead can be useful, but can also be treacherous. (sp?)

Val, when I first passed my test and didn't have that much road experience, I once went to see a friend in Oxford. I was driving my father's Saab 9000 2.3 turbo which did shift a fair amount (in a straight line ). On the way back (A4074), I was behind a car driving relatively slowly for the road conditions - about 40mph. It was night, but road was a normal-to-wide width single carriageway. I gently moved over to the right slightly and could clearly see the trail of cats eyes straight ahead, with no discernable bends. I decided to overtake.

As I overtook, to my horror I realised that the straight line of cats eyes I saw moments before dissapeared over the crest of a hill, and a car was all of a sudden coming straight towards me. I decided to boot it and passed the overtaken car and pulled back in just in time. Retrospectively, it would have been far safer to brake and pull back in behind the other car.

Of course, I survived to tell the tale, but it did teach me one thing about only planning your driving as far as you can see. (moving limit and all that).

Now, fast forward to today. You're in the same position, but you have the added aid of sat nav. Peering quickly down at it, you see the road is straight for the next mile or so, so decide to overtake, and you get youself stuck in that same awkward position.

I'll stop rambling now, but the point I want to make, especially to young'uns like myself at the time is don't always trust sat nav. Even if the direction is accurate, you have no indication of elevation and changes in road inclination. Also, a map doesn't tell you anything about road surface condition, and things such as trails of mud a tractor leaves behind when leaving a field, etc...

Now, fast forward to today. You're in the same position, but you have the added aid of sat nav. Peering quickly down at it, you see the road is straight for the next mile or so, so decide to overtake, and you get youself stuck in that same awkward position.

I'll stop rambling now, but the point I want to make, especially to young'uns like myself at the time is don't always trust sat nav. Even if the direction is accurate, you have no indication of elevation and changes in road inclination. Also, a map doesn't tell you anything about road surface condition, and things such as trails of mud a tractor leaves behind when leaving a field, etc...

OK - 1st I've barely used our SatNav - and only during the day.

2nd - he only uses it to forewarn him of the possibility of people emerging from junctions / turnings around the next bend. For that usage I think it is a good tool.

Your points prior to my 'cut and paste' are all valid.

BTW Wasn't it Mark Philips (Princess Anne's ex) who overtook cos he hadn't allowed for a dip in the road and was involved in an accident ?

Crests = vertical bends. Very treacherous at night, when you're not even sure they're there.

As I overtook, to my horror I realised that the straight line of cats eyes I saw moments before dissapeared over the crest of a hill, and a car was all of a sudden coming straight towards me. I decided to boot it and passed the overtaken car and pulled back in just in time.

If you had been paying attention on th 4074 you would have seen the signs "hidden dips ahead" if i see the satnav shows a straight road ahead im not gonna take it 100% as yes hidden bends do exist, but if you been going through bends for ages you can get yourself ready to 'look' past the vechiles once you get on the street part.

Exactly how many of you on here have followed a sat nav instructions into a river cos the device tells you too? not me, they a useful tool but not one to put your life in the hands of.

Some excellent points raised on this thread! Driving at night is one of the hardest times to drive because you are so reliant on being able to stop in the distance you can see to be clear (which in reality becomes the distance that you have illuminated), and I'm far from a great driver at night. HPC recognise this and offer a specific award for reaching this standard - Silver Award (which I am yet to achieve )

One of the most frustrating things I find is when you're on a road and the car in front is not using their main beam, meaning that they are not showing the piece of road you want to use for an overtake. In these cases, it's very easy to get caught up in trying to get past them, but safety first, progress second.

Using sat nav as an aid is good, but even for finding out what's round the next bend I would find it difficult to trust - how many hidden/unsigned junctions/farm entrances are on sat nav? I'd prefer to be driving at a speed which means that if anything emerges from these junctions, I'll be able to stop in plenty of time...

Driving at night also has its useful points, using other cars headlights to illuminate the road around you and see vehicles approching of which you wouldnt see around a bend in the day light.