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> I hope this kind of thing doesn't get banned entirely. when it works, I find that having a good navigation system allows me to pay more attention on actually

> I hope this kind of thing doesn't get banned entirely. when it works, I find that having a good navigation system allows me to pay more attention on actually driving the car. Anecdotally, over the years I've been driving, a majority of potentially collision-causing mistakes I've made (and that I've noticed) have been when I've been cognitively distracted by navigation systems and was looking for a turn/exit or thinking ahead for a turn/exit. I've adjusted to always prioritize real-time safety even if it comes at the cost of missing my turn and having to double back to get where I'm going. I believe that following nav directions in real-time comes at a safety cost, and am skeptical that many people both realize this and make the appropriate adjustments.

leetcrew 7y ago
I'm guessing this is a ymmv type situation. I personally find navigation to be by far the most stressful part of driving. I have a bad tendency to flip binary directions like left/right, east/west, etc. when I first had my license (before navigation apps for your smartphone really existed), I had to spend a lot of my cognitive budget trying to remember whether the turn at X St was a right or left and not paying as much attention to the evolving situation on the road. I'm always willing to miss an exit/turn if I notice it too late or there isn't room to merge safely. if anything, I'm more willing to miss a turn in an unfamiliar area when I know the nav system will automatically find a new route. this probably varies depending on your spatial reasoning skills. my brother can take a quick look at a map and remember the connectivity of all the major roads and then navigate from memory. whenever I try this, I end up in a stressful loop of miss turn -> find place to pull over to look at map -> miss turn again. stress has a comparable impact to driving safety as distraction in my experience.
Krasnol 7y ago
I had one of those portable navigation systems before in my old car and had it mounted on the lower left end of the front window. It was perfect. I never felt distracted or in need to leave the street out of my view for longer. Now I have a quite large navigation screen in the mid console and those optional arrows next to my speedometer. It really took some time to get me to not look and the centre screen. It took even longer to get used to just listen to what the computer lady says. I can't understand how this centre screen has become a safe standard. Especially in countries like Germany where there is no speed limit. It's a toy for passengers.
jsight 7y ago
I find that to be true, and actually consider this an advantage of GPS. I remember being super careful not to miss turns before it, because getting back might be difficult or confusing in some cases. Now, I don't care so much. GPS can route me back pretty easily if I miss anyway.
- chillwaves 7y ago
  This is the attitude we need collectively. It no longer matters as much to miss a turn, GPS will optimize the best route moving forward. Some people are however, still unwilling to be delayed no matter the danger.
  - tomp 7y ago
    Depends on the circumstances. On a roundabout, the cost of missing an exit is minimal. On a highway, it’s often 30km, and can be much higher (we once missed an exit and ended in Mexico on a 3hour illegal detour).
    - chillwaves 7y ago
      Still not sympathetic. That's no reason to put someone's life in danger.
    - jsight 7y ago
      I can understand that, but I don't that it takes a lot of attention to keep from missing highway exits that are far apart. It does still happen sometimes, though.
sosborn 7y ago
> I've adjusted to always prioritize real-time safety even if it comes at the cost of missing my turn and having to double back to get where I'm going. To me, this is where GPS shines. If I miss an exit, it isn't a big a deal because the GPS will tell me the best route based on my current circumstances.

leetcrew 7y ago

I'm guessing this is a ymmv type situation. I personally find navigation to be by far the most stressful part of driving. I have a bad tendency to flip binary directions like left/right, east/west, etc. when I first had my license (before navigation apps for your smartphone really existed), I had to spend a lot of my cognitive budget trying to remember whether the turn at X St was a right or left and not paying as much attention to the evolving situation on the road. I'm always willing to miss an exit/turn if I notice it too late or there isn't room to merge safely. if anything, I'm more willing to miss a turn in an unfamiliar area when I know the nav system will automatically find a new route. this probably varies depending on your spatial reasoning skills. my brother can take a quick look at a map and remember the connectivity of all the major roads and then navigate from memory. whenever I try this, I end up in a stressful loop of miss turn -> find place to pull over to look at map -> miss turn again. stress has a comparable impact to driving safety as distraction in my experience.

Krasnol 7y ago

I had one of those portable navigation systems before in my old car and had it mounted on the lower left end of the front window. It was perfect. I never felt distracted or in need to leave the street out of my view for longer. Now I have a quite large navigation screen in the mid console and those optional arrows next to my speedometer. It really took some time to get me to not look and the centre screen. It took even longer to get used to just listen to what the computer lady says. I can't understand how this centre screen has become a safe standard. Especially in countries like Germany where there is no speed limit. It's a toy for passengers.

jsight 7y ago

I find that to be true, and actually consider this an advantage of GPS. I remember being super careful not to miss turns before it, because getting back might be difficult or confusing in some cases. Now, I don't care so much. GPS can route me back pretty easily if I miss anyway.

chillwaves 7y ago
This is the attitude we need collectively. It no longer matters as much to miss a turn, GPS will optimize the best route moving forward. Some people are however, still unwilling to be delayed no matter the danger.
- tomp 7y ago
  Depends on the circumstances. On a roundabout, the cost of missing an exit is minimal. On a highway, it’s often 30km, and can be much higher (we once missed an exit and ended in Mexico on a 3hour illegal detour).
  - chillwaves 7y ago
    Still not sympathetic. That's no reason to put someone's life in danger.
  - jsight 7y ago
    I can understand that, but I don't that it takes a lot of attention to keep from missing highway exits that are far apart. It does still happen sometimes, though.

sosborn 7y ago

> I've adjusted to always prioritize real-time safety even if it comes at the cost of missing my turn and having to double back to get where I'm going. To me, this is where GPS shines. If I miss an exit, it isn't a big a deal because the GPS will tell me the best route based on my current circumstances.