Part of Six Principles and Official Guidance
Written for Everyday Drivers
Article 16 of 17
Good navigation is more than following a satnav
The central argument of Road Navigation – The Principles Explained is simple: a satnav is an extremely useful tool, but good navigation requires more than entering a destination and following instructions.
The Six Principles of Road Navigation are:
These principles were developed as a practical framework for better road navigation. Interestingly, when they are compared with official DVSA guidance, there is considerable common ground.
The DVSA National Standard for Driving Cars and Light Vans expects drivers to be able to plan a suitable route.
The official standard includes considering such things as road and traffic conditions, weather, possible alternatives and other factors that may affect the journey. It also says that, where satellite navigation is being used, it should be programmed before the journey begins.
This corresponds closely with the first stages of the Road Navigation approach:
Confirm → Plan → Familiarise
The journey starts before the vehicle moves.
Rather than simply entering an address and accepting whatever route the device produces, the driver should know where they are going, consider the route and develop at least a basic understanding of the journey ahead.
Perhaps even more significant is the DVSA’s learning-to-drive syllabus.
It specifically includes understanding the risks of relying solely on a satellite navigation system.
That is an important distinction.
The issue is not whether drivers should use satnav. They should use whatever navigation tools help them. The issue is reliance.
A navigation system can calculate a route, provide directions, estimate arrival times and increasingly take account of traffic conditions. But the driver remains responsible for deciding whether what the device is suggesting is appropriate in the real world.
Satnav guides. The driver decides.
Modern navigation systems have become extremely good at giving turn-by-turn instructions. That can make it tempting to know almost nothing about the journey beforehand.
Official guidance nevertheless recognises the importance of route planning and understanding route information.
This supports the principle of Familiarise with the Route.
Familiarisation does not mean memorising every road and junction. It can be as simple as looking over the route before leaving and identifying the major stages: the principal roads, important junctions, alternatives and the final approach to the destination.
Modern digital maps actually make this easier. Drivers can zoom out, examine the whole journey and, where appropriate, use satellite imagery or Street View to investigate difficult locations.
The same philosophy continues once the journey begins.
The government’s THINK! road-safety guidance tells drivers to read the road ahead and anticipate potential hazards.
That fits naturally with the final three Road Navigation Principles:
Long-Range Observation → Anticipate and Position → Short-Range Observation
These principles operate continuously while driving.
Navigation therefore becomes part of driving rather than a separate activity performed by a screen attached to the dashboard.
Satnav technology has advanced enormously. Modern systems offer live traffic information, alternative routes, lane guidance, predictive congestion and increasingly sophisticated mapping.
But better technology does not remove the need for driver judgement.
Indeed, the more capable the technology becomes, the easier it may be to surrender decisions to it.
Official driving guidance points in the opposite direction: prepare, plan, understand the limitations of navigation systems, observe the road and anticipate what is happening.
Those ideas are remarkably close to the Six Principles of Road Navigation.
The Six Principles are not claimed to be an official DVSA system. They are a framework developed to bring these different elements together into one practical method:
Confirm → Plan → Familiarise → Observe → Anticipate and Position → Observe
The first three prepare the driver for the journey.
The final three help the driver manage the journey as it unfolds.
The official guidance therefore doesn’t ‘approve’ the Six Principles. But it does provide substantial independent support for the thinking behind them.
Satnav is a powerful tool. Good navigation is a driver skill.
Satnav guides. The driver decides.