Sat Navs and NARROW Lanes

[QFour]

Don't you just love them. Ours was called Doris but she has left us and gone to pastures new. She was very good at finding routes but on occasion she would loose it and take us down a narrow lane.



This is the wide bit .. There were some passing places ..

New MH comes with UConnect Tom Tom Radio and Sat Nav but from what I have read it's very stripped down version with no way of putting in POI's apart from manually. They have said that its for a van and people who drive vans don't need lots of gizmo's to play with while driving.

It would also seem that some of the Truck ones also like going down country lanes.

 

[vwalan]

Don't you just love them. Ours was called Doris but she has left us and gone to pastures new. She was very good at finding routes but on occasion she would loose it and take us down a narrow lane.

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This is the wide bit .. There were some passing places ..

New MH comes with UConnect Tom Tom Radio and Sat Nav but from what I have read it's very stripped down version with no way of putting in POI's apart from manually. They have said that its for a van and people who drive vans don't need lots of gizmo's to play with while driving.

It would also seem that some of the Truck ones also like going down country lanes.

throw the sat nav away . i drive all over uk and abroad . use your loaf . if you cant reverse out dont drive in .
never use toll roads m,ways , avoid dual carriage ways and enjoy the eu and africa .
can you really do as your told and turn left at the next junction?
i thought that means turn right or go straight on . cant do with being told what where to go. ha ha .

 

[delicagirl]

Sat navs take a while to get used to.... if mine (Garmin) cannot find a precise road, it will aim in the general direction of my route instructions to it... so i have learned to look more than listen..... i have ended up in several farm yards before realising the shortcomings of my satnav -

But i do think that Satnavs have their place in navigational aids - i also use large print map books and OS maps as well.. so between all 3 i usually get to where i want to go to.

 

[maingate]

A lot of Satnavs only give 2 options ..... 'shortest route' and 'fastest route'. Neither of which is any use to a motorhome.

Waypoints are a useful way of keeping to the route that you have chosen beforehand or (what I do) write a list of the road numbers you want to use and have it handy for reference. It is too easy to get into bother with a motorhome and a Satnav.

 

[Deleted member 9849]

I wouldn't be without a satnav now,it's invaluable for negotiating towns and cities that you have never been through before and can save a lot of time and aggravation at busy roundabouts and junctions.However they do have limitations and you have to use common sense,if it tries to take you down an obviously unsuitable road then just keep going and let it recalculate until a better route is found.

I also find it useful for forward planning in conjunction with google maps and street view where it's possible to check the type of road on the computer and then force it to go a particular route by adding stops.I get the required coordinates from google maps and input them into the satnav app,plan the route and then save the trip.Satnav is brilliant but must be used with some caution and not followed blindly.

 

[Sharon the Cat]

We have a fairytooth TomTom in the van that has done us very well in France.
One day we turned it off & said we would wander by map & wander we did! Why do all the signs seems to point to Paris?

 

[El Veterano]

I wouldn't be without a satnav now,it's invaluable for negotiating towns and cities that you have never been through before
Satnav is brilliant but must be used with some caution and not followed blindly.

Exactly, and this is the key point when using road based GPS systems (using a marine GPS is somewhat different).

 

[delicagirl]

without a satnav it would have meant my spending years of my life badly navigating through cities and towns i didn't know... its a brilliant bit of kit..... and it takes the stress out of navigating for me, and makes me a safer driver... so i lurve my "henry" - he has such a soothing voice and never gets angry if i disobey him... he just re routes me....

 

[saxonborg]

I wouldn't be without a satnav now,it's invaluable for negotiating towns and cities that you have never been through before and can save a lot of time and aggravation at busy roundabouts and junctions.However they do have limitations and you have to use common sense,if it tries to take you down an obviously unsuitable road then just keep going and let it recalculate until a better route is found.

I also find it useful for forward planning in conjunction with google maps and street view where it's possible to check the type of road on the computer and then force it to go a particular route by adding stops.I get the required coordinates from google maps and input them into the satnav app,plan the route and then save the trip.Satnav is brilliant but must be used with some caution and not followed blindly.

Second all of what you said, mine took me to the north of Norway and back with only two major errors both of which were down to me. Wouldn't be without mine although I still use country atlases for route planning and paper maps for the finer detail.

 

[Robmac]

Sat Navs are best used for the last few miles of a journey to find a precise location.

I know my way to Leeds from here, but not to number 27 Acacia Avenue in Leeds.

 

[Steve121]

What's the problem?

Too often people complain about being sent down narrow lanes simply because they don't like driving along them, not because their vehicle won't fit, so I really don't understand how anyone considers it a fault with the satnav.
If it's a satnav which allows vehicle size to be input and it sends you along a road which is narrower than your vehicle, then yes, there is a fault somewhere along the line, but not necessarily with the satnav manufacturer. The satnav has to rely on databases, which may not have the full and/or correct details.

 

[mark61]

I even use mine when I know where I'm going. Even if only to remind me of cameras

 

[delicagirl]

i use mine all the time in my van cos the van speedo is in kilometers !!!!! and i have already been to "naughty driver school" more than once....

 

[yorkslass]

A lot of Satnavs only give 2 options ..... 'shortest route' and 'fastest route'. Neither of which is any use to a motorhome.

Waypoints are a useful way of keeping to the route that you have chosen beforehand or (what I do) write a list of the road numbers you want to use and have it handy for reference. It is too easy to get into bother with a motorhome and a Satnav.

That's my preferred way to go, unfortunately a have a 'second' satnav sitting at the side of me, and he likes to input his two pennorth.:scared:

 

[maingate]

A satnav is not so crucial when you have a small vehicle, it's easier to get out of trouble. Having a large vehicle is a different story. On 2 occasions I have been in a pickle because the wally coming the other way in their car kept on driving instead of looking for a spot to pull in to allow passing. Then they did not want to reverse a short distance to solve the problem.

 

[Steve121]

Camera warnings disabled

I even use mine when I know where I'm going. Even if only to remind me of cameras

I usually use mine all the time I'm driving as the speedo needle obscures the MPH markings making them very difficult to read. The KM markings are nice and bold and easy to see.

The first thing I do with a new satnav is disable the speed camera warnings. It's quite easy to know what the speed limit is and keeping an eye on your speedo shouldn't be difficult. If I'm in someone else's vehicle I find speed camera warnings a really annoying distraction. Never been stopped for speeding in any country in almost 50 years of driving.

 

[Deleted member 57175]

Sat Navs are best used for the last few miles of a journey to find a precise location.

I know my way to Leeds from here, but not to number 27 Acacia Avenue in Leeds.

This is exactly how i use mine.

 

[delicagirl]

I usually use mine all the time I'm driving as the speedo needle obscures the MPH markings making them very difficult to read. The KM markings are nice and bold and easy to see.

The first thing I do with a new satnav is disable the speed camera warnings. It's quite easy to know what the speed limit is and keeping an eye on your speedo shouldn't be difficult. If I'm in someone else's vehicle I find speed camera warnings a really annoying distraction. Never been stopped for speeding in any country in almost 50 years of driving.

That's what i thought before i went to naughty drivers school the first time.... speed limits used to be simple.... but over the years new categories of roads and vehicles have come about and which of us can honestly say we have re-read the highway code since passing a driving test decades ago ? i certainly hadn't and i learned a lot from the lecturers ... i have only ever been sent to school because i did less than 35 in a 30mph zone... apparently locally they dont make the high-speed youngsters go for further education. I don't mind having been sent, as it has now sharpened my observation skills on the road.

When i was in Eire last year i realised just how many repetitions of road side instructions we have here in the mainland ... in eire they tell you once/twice at the most and assume you have read and understood it - driving there is so much more relaxed because there is much less traffic but also because there is far less to have to read all the time in terms of road signages....

 

[Steve121]

That's what i thought before i went to naughty drivers school the first time.... speed limits used to be simple.... but over the years new categories of roads and vehicles have come about and which of us can honestly say we have re-read the highway code since passing a driving test decades ago ? i certainly hadn't and i learned a lot from the lecturers ... i have only ever been sent to school because i did less than 35 in a 30mph zone... apparently locally they dont make the high-speed youngsters go for further education. I don't mind having been sent, as it has now sharpened my observation skills on the road.

When i was in Eire last year i realised just how many repetitions of road side instructions we have here in the mainland ... in eire they tell you once/twice at the most and assume you have read and understood it - driving there is so much more relaxed because there is much less traffic but also because there is far less to have to read all the time in terms of road signages....

It's really easy in the UK: Speed Limits
For other countries it's easy enough to find out, and attach a reminder on your dashboard.

 

[vwalan]

A satnav is not so crucial when you have a small vehicle, it's easier to get out of trouble. Having a large vehicle is a different story. On 2 occasions I have been in a pickle because the wally coming the other way in their car kept on driving instead of looking for a spot to pull in to allow passing. Then they did not want to reverse a short distance to solve the problem.

certainly when i,m out touring i,m driving a 33ft mini artic and usually there are at least one other truck converted to m,home with me .
just use your eyes see the roads . dont be in a hurry.
i do drive larger artics in uk and have abroad . still never really found the need for sat nav.
i will admit they may be useful for that final bit in a big city . but i have never used one .
like i said before if you cant reverse out dont drive in .
i also agree with you looking at the road spotting that other vehicle coming and pulling over etrc does seem to be harder for folk these days . when you do it they give a look of why are you letting me through.