SATNAV JUDGEMENT AND ERRORS

A satnav can calculate a route in seconds, but it cannot see the road, the vehicle or the driver. That gap is where most navigation problems begin. The articles gathered here examine what happens when an instruction looks wrong, when a device sends a driver down a lane that is plainly unsuitable, and when the screen stops working altogether.

Research published by the RAC found that although almost every driver now uses satellite navigation, only about a third report a high degree of trust in it, and the great majority sometimes disregard what it says. Those figures describe judgement in action rather than disobedience. Drivers are constantly comparing what the device tells them with what they can actually see.

The purpose of this topic is to make that comparison deliberate rather than accidental. An implausible instruction is easier to reject calmly when a driver already knows the general direction of travel, the major roads and the shape of the final approach. A device failure is far less serious for a driver who was navigating rather than simply following.

Read together, these articles describe one relationship: the satnav supplies information, and the driver supplies judgement.