Car Safety

General Discussion
21

There was a piece in the national news the other night about GPS. It seems that it was the GPS that led a Canadian couple into the middle of Nowhere, Nevada. The woman was found 41 days later, they are still looking for her husband('s body).

I have limited experience with GPS, and its mostly been not good. Some of my repair guys use GPS and they have gotten lost quite a few times. The news show indicated the one of the biggest problems with the GPS is that it can’t tell an abandoned dirt road or a private road from an interstate.

22

VDC, how do you monitor all signs except exit signs? How do you manage to read the non-exit signs without seeing the exit signs?

To answer your question, keeping track of exit signs tells you where you are, so if your car breaks down and you call for help, you can tell the dispatcher where you are.

23

On interstate highways and toll roads, the exit signs are above the roadway and the road signs are on the sides of the roadway. The exit signs are green or blue (depending on the road), and the road signs are yellow. These two major differences allow me to easily distinguish between the two types of signs, and thereby ignore the exit signs and concentrate on traffic.

How can I tell a dispatcher where I am? By providing the exact latitude and longitude coordinates that are provided by the GPS!

Just tell the dispatcher that you are on Route XX and at the following coordinates. The tow truck driver can then use his GPS to locate your car more precisely than if you just said that you were somewhere between exit x and exit y.

Or in the unlikely event that the towing company did not have GPS-equipped trucks, I could simply say that I am between exit x and exit y. How would I know this? Because the GPS screen always shows the next 3 exits and how many miles it is to the next exit.

24

“JT, I am not suggesting you look at a map while you drive. When I need to look at a map or written directions, I pull over. Also, how hard is it to plan your itinerary before you hit the road?”

It’s really near the end of the trip where the GPS comes in handy. Before I had one, I used to prepare maps for the trip from internet mapping services. It often took a half hour to get the ones I wanted and print them. Now, I don’t have to do it. I save time and ink. The GPS is a time saver, too. Just so long as I don’t fool around with the other features while I’m driving.

25

“Very few truckers use GPS units, mainly because consumer units might direct your truck under a bridge or underpass with insufficient clearance, or down a street where semis are not allowed, proving, once again, there is no substitute for proper trip planning.”

I would imagine truckers use trucker specific GPS units. Those built for that purpose.

26

There was a news article on TV a while back (British TV, sorry), about a bunch of trucks that very had started heading through this sleepy little British town, hitting the hand laid stone walls, making lots of noise in general, tearing up the curbs, and trying to force their way down roads that were too small.

This was, of course, all the fault of the humble GPS. Blame it on the programmers, I guess. There should be a way to set your default vehicle (bike, car, SUV, truck, rig) and it should weed out those little roads, and sleepy hollows…but I haven’t found one yet…although I admit I haven’t looked at every one…

27

Hey Guys, Mr. Low-Tech, Here.

My computer’s got dial-up phone modem, I have a couple of cell phones, but seldom turn them on, can’t text-message, have over-the-air TV with an antenna, etcetera, . . .

. . . but buying a GPS a few years ago was a no-brainer ! We recently rented a new Malibu, hopped in with my GPS (“bean bag” mounting) and took two seconds to plug it in, and headed for Florida.

My wife helped me navigate (riding shotgun) with it driving day and night in 10 states, just over 3,000 miles. (My wife doesn’t do well with using maps), I guess she doesn’t like to ( and no Whitey she doesn’t work at Wal-Mart, she’s a college graduate and does accounting work, not that there’s any reason to fault anybody earning a living).

Since we weren’t familiar with almost all roads, it really helped.
Extreme traffic jam from rush-hour, an accident or construction ? No problem - reroute !
Daughter wants a McDonalds or I want a Sears or Harbor Freight - Ask Ma Gellan !
Need gas or a motel ? Same answer !
Want to leave the beach in Florida and go someplace ? No problem !
Want to try and get back back to the beach after a couple side-trips ? You guessed it !
Want to avoid toll-roads ? You’ve got it !
Want to instantly know miles or get an ETA for a certain destination ? Yup !
Curious about the elevation ? Uh-Huh !

I just have to laugh at any suggestion that this trip would have been enhanced if my wife had good map skills or I drove and used my map skills. Yes, we did use maps from each of ten states to rough-in the legs of the trip, but the GPS has the details.

Mr. Low-Tech’s not giving up his GPS, folks. These things will only get better, cheaper, and they’re here to stay. This trip, by any measure, would have been less enjoyable and more dangerous without GPS, sorry.

CSA

28

CSA, what’s wrong with people who work at Wal-Mart? They have accountants at Wal-Mart too you know.

29

"CSA, what’s wrong with people who work at Wal-Mart?"
Absolutely Nothing. That’s My Point.

You say, “When that happens to some people, they know how to do the math, adding the proper sales tax and giving you the proper change, while others just give you that deer in the headlights look and close the store. Which one would you rather rely on in a crisis?”

Your statement doesn’t apply to Wal-Mart employees ?
Specifically which store employees were you talking about ?

Math skills are helpful and so are map skills, but some folks do the best they can with what they have to work with, whether working or driving. For a variety of different reasons they may not have the advanced skills that you possess.

Which one would you rather rely on in a crisis ? You mean a map skill crisis or change counting crisis ?
In a real crisis I would rely on anybody willing to help.

CSA

30

CSA: “In a real crisis I would rely on anybody willing to help.”

Really? Aren’t you the guy who thinks “I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help” are the scariest words in the American lexicon?

31

“Really? Aren’t you the guy who thinks “I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help” are the scariest words in the American lexicon?”

That is really scary, but in a crisis I’d have to take a gamble on it.

Ronald Reagan in crisis after being shot:
Within a few minutes after I arrived, the room was full of specialists in virtually every medical field. When one of the doctors said they were going to operate on me, I said, “I hope you’re a Republican.” He looked at me and said, “Today, Mr. President, we’re all Republicans.”

:wink:
CSA

32

“We have cars that can park themselves, GPS for people who are too illiterate to read a map, and detection systems for those drivers who don’t know how to look where they are going and how to stay in their lane.”

We’ve drifted a little off the question but I agree.

It’s not hard to find stories of people who blindly follow their GPS and wind up in the middle of nowhere, and sadly in some cases they’ve died.

And now there’s a few signs that flatly state that your sat. nav. (GPS navagation) is in error.



Signs from Britain BTW but I’ve seen one or two in the US.

Too many people just blindly follow their GPS without THINKING. Most truck driver’s I know don’t use GPS, they plan their routes, they check the local road condition when they stop.

Can a GPS be handy sure, but it doesn’t take the place of careful planning and knowing how to drive.

One last thing

And every time I see that commercial where they say “” I didn’t notice I had drifted into the other lane…"

http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehicles/class/class-E/c-activesafety

all I think is “Didn’t anyone teach you how to drive? Don’t you pay attention to the road?” followed by “You shouldn’t have a driver’s license.”

Personally the driver’s test should be much harder.

My opinions are subject to change with new facts.

33

There should be a way to set your default vehicle (bike, car, SUV, truck, rig)

Some models of Garmin’s Nuvi will do this. There are also specialized maps and waypoints that you can download for other GPS units that will avoid low bridges, etc.

The trouble is as rwee said - people use the GPS as a substitute for thinking. For awhile there a bunch of people in Europe were driving cars into lakes because the GPS told them too. News stories were busy blaming the GPS. I personally blamed the drivers - they should have known the car wasn’t a boat even if the GPS told them it was.

34

rwee2000, If You Do Change Any Opinions Or Have Something Else Pop Into Your Head, Could You Please Not Space In Between Almost Every Sentence And Make It So Long ? Thanks
CSA

35

rwee2000, I think the same thing when I see that stupid commercial. Drivers who need a car to tell them when they are drifting out of the lane or when the car in front of them slows down shouldn’t be allowed to drive.

36

rwee2000, When I read " . . . GPS for people who are too illiterate to read a map, . . . " In The First Sentence, I Disregarded Everything Else You Said.
That’s like saying cars are for people who don’t know how to ride a bike or are too lazy to walk.

GPS devices are not intended to supplant literacy. They are a convenience and safety device. I’ll bet that the many good people who post here regularly have very good map skills. You may be hearing from some of them.

CSA

37

I am one of those folks with very good map skills, CSA, as well as a driving record that most folks would envy (no accidents in 41 years/well over 500k miles). Yes, I can read a map and plan my route very well, as I had done since I got my driver’s license in 1963.

However, I can recognize a modern convenience when I see one, and a GPS device is a wonderful convenience.
In a similar fashion, an abacus is a very useful device, but it pales by comparison with a $5.00 calculator.
A sundial was used by folks for many years, but was supplanted by clocks.
And so on, and so on…

Of course we have all heard stories about dolts who turned onto railroad tracks or into a lake (supposedly) because their GPS told them to turn. There is no shortage of idiots and people with bad driving skills behind the wheel, but just because some people who are not too bright might misuse a GPS system, that does not mean that a GPS system is the work of the devil or that it inherently makes one less safe.

Just like with most devices and conveniences, the intelligence of the person using a GPS (or misusing it) is the key to the outcome. In my local newspaper today, there was a story about a woman who received jail time for causing a fatal accident. How did she cause the accident? She was inputting an address into her GPS while driving–and she was also drunk.

While some Subaru owners have complained about the inability to input addresses into the onboard GPS system while the car is in motion, I understand that this type of practice is dangerous, and as a result, I am glad that my car’s GPS system does not allow this.

I could revert to using maps as my sole navigation aid, just as I could revert to writing letters in cursive script rather than typing them out on my laptop.
I could revert to adding columns of numbers, rather than using a calculator.
I could wash my dishes by hand, rather than using a dishwasher.
I could get up from the sofa and change channels on the TV itself, rather than using a remote control.
I could start using hand signals, rather than the directional signals on my car.
However, then the obvious question would be…If there is a better, or more efficient, or easier way of doing things, why shouldn’t I avail myself of it?

38

Actually, VDC, I was alluding to exit signs. GPS is great, but in my opinion it should be used as a guideline and the driver should drive to the exit signs. Had the guys who hit me been paying attention to the exit signs they would not have had to try to cross lanes at the last second to make their exit. That particular exit is well marked with signs 1/4 mile before the exit, 1/2 mile before the exit, and even 1 mile before the exit. It’s my feeling that a driver focusing on the GPS would be more likely to miss the signs.

Perhaps GPS’s have gotten too smart. Perhaps if they were simply used as more convenient roadmaps rather than navigators I’d feel more comfortable that they didn’t take focus off the road.

39

Well, I guess that we will have to agree to disagree MB!

The jerk who hit you apparently became aware of the exit sign belatedly, and because he was not in the righthand lane, he hit your car during the course of his boneheaded mad dash to the right lane. In other words, he was not paying attention. This guy would also probably not pay attention to the auditory cues of a GPS if he had one!

After using the GPS very carefully and cautiously for a few weeks as an experiment, I found that it gives me plenty of notice (3 miles), via auditory cues, that my exit is approaching. If I want to glance at the screen (which I do occasionally when there are no other cars around me), I can see how many miles it might actually be before I come to my exit.

If I don’t glance at the screen, I can depend on the GPS to tell me every few minutes, “Continue on the present road”–until I get about 3 miles from my exit, at which time it will tell me, “exit XX in X miles–prepare to exit”. Then, “exit XX in 2 miles”, and of course, the message becomes more direct as you get even closer to the exit.

If I know that my exit is not coming up for (pick one) 20 miles, or 30 miles, or even 100 miles–how am I making myself and others around me safer by taking my attention away from the road and the traffic on the road in order to read all of the exit signs along the way that don’t apply to my chosen route?

I still keep to the right, except when passing.
I still make complementary lane changes when someone is on an entrance ramp.
I still keep a large distance between my car and the car in front of me.
I still maintain a “safety zone” around my car by never riding next to another car if I can move in front of him or drop back behind him.
I am never the slowest driver on the road (by a long shot), but I am also not the fastest one on the road.

The only thing that I have changed in my driving is the blessed ability to ignore exit signs that clearly have no bearing on my route.

So–please tell me–how does my new practice of ignoring exit signs that don’t apply to my chosen route make me less safe? I am a very reasonable person, and if you can explain to me why I need to read each and every exit sign, I just might start reading all of them again.

40

common sense answer

OK. and the quote was from Whitey I forgot to credit him

My opinions are subject to change with new facts.