In-Car Navigation Systems Too Distracting? 265
Lam1969 writes "A survey released by an insurance company shows that drivers with in-car navigation systems are more likely to lose concentration than drivers who unfold a map while driving. From the article: 'One in 10 motorists with navigation systems set off on their journeys without bothering to program their route, and more than half admitted that they then had to take their eyes off the road to input the details while driving. Nearly one in eight did not even bother to check out a route they were unfamiliar with and simply relied on the technology to get them to their destination.'"
dashboard diplays (Score:5, Interesting)
Oh for the days of the horse and buggy (Score:3, Interesting)
The problem today isn't all the gadgets we have to help us get where we're going, it is the fact that we simply don't have time to do a good job of going anywhere, any time, with any help (or none).
We're being inundated with ways of multi-tasking before we have established the abilities to off-load the major task - that of keeping ourselves and the rest of those around us alive to actually get where we're wanting/needing to be.
We should leave all these distractions (people in the next seat, cell-phones, books on tape, talk-radio, TV, fancy guidance systems, etc.) out of the vehicle until such time as the vehicle can do the driving while we do the rest.
Re:A shift in driving (Score:3, Interesting)
My parents' recent purchase of a Buick Allure has this info centre feature with some settings you can fiddle around. The manual says you must put the gear in park before you can change the settings, and I think this is the best safety feature that GM had made. Now, I don't see a reason why the route for the NAV system should be set or modified while the car is in motion. The idea can also be applied here: Don't even let the driver create the distraction.
Tom Tom: Distracting, but... (Score:1, Interesting)
Here are a few random thoughts on this type of navigation:
1. End-to-end nav. Tell Tom Tom where you wanna go and don't look at it again. It warns you when turns are coming up (in a crisp Australian accent if you're using my settings (voice sounded clearer than the US English voices on my T3 speakser - still want John Cleese for it, though...)), and you can configure how early you want the turn warning.
2. Tom Tom for Palm is designed so you can navigate the GUI with a fingertip - no stylus needed. This keeps the fumble-factor way down.
3. Battery life is a killer - bluetooth GPS, speech, bright screen for daylight driving and a constantly-running app quickly deplete my T3's battery (which is about the lowest-capacity unit Palm has ever shipped on a good day). This means you're gonna have to use a power cord, which means more fumbling and distraction than you'd like. The cord falls out of the Palm just about anyplace I put the thing in the car.
4. You can mount the thing with a windshield mount in a "heads-up" spot on the dash. You still have a concentration/depth-of-field issue when focusing on the thing vs. the road ahead, but it's not awful.
5. It's safer than making snap judgements in traffic. Nice to know where you're going ahead of time. Seldom do I make a right turn from the left lane to follow directions now...
6. Several times I've looked longingly across a dead-end barricade or cul-de-sac sidewalk at what Tom Tom thinks is my next turn; visible, but inaccessible. It's not perfect (and I've heard this is endemic to GPS nav systems).
7. The killer part of this app: The pseudo 3D view of the road ahead is MUCH more communicative than the flat map view of say Street Atlas. Both work with my Bluetooth GPS, but Tom Tom is actually usable from the driver's seat.
Love my Tom Tom, YMMV.
Personal Experience (Score:4, Interesting)
The street pilot uses a suction cup to stick to my windshield, and has a chord that plugs into my cigarette lighter. The controls are simple, just a wheel and two buttons. It has a map that shows where I am. When it's not navigating, it shows my speed and direction. When it is navigating, it shows my estimated arrival time, and the distance to my next turn. It also speaks outloud with instructions like "Go 103 miles, then turn left." And then when you get close to the next turn it will say "Go 500 feet and then turn left." It's quick to glance up and see how far I have until I need to be concerned about getting ready to turn/exit. If I forget to tell it where I'm going before I leave, it takes me about 10 seconds to reach up and pick a location from my favorites. I can't imagine typing in an address while driving, but picking a location from a list is much less distracting than trying to read directions on paper while driving.
After getting my GPS, I decided to take an unfamiliar route back to college. I was able to keep my eyes on the road the whole time and I didn't get the least bit lost. Now I take it anytime I go someplace new, and I feel very confident that I'm a safer driver with it than without it.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
They have it backward!!! (Score:2, Interesting)
Where's the problem ? (Score:5, Interesting)
I've done the trip before, but I wouldn't say I was familiar with it, and I tried to see different things this time anyway - we went somewhat out of our way to Monument Valley on the way back, 'cos that's fairly spectacular
The thing performs perfectly - I use it a lot. The confidence it brings when you know it will work out the best route and take you that way is just great. No panic if (when) you miss a junction on a freeway because you were in the wrong lane. No problem if you miss a turn in a city you don't know. I can't praise the thing enough.
My parents came over to visit - never been to the US before. Because I had to work that week, they went on a trip down the coast, with the GPS guiding them all the way. 10 minutes instruction was all it took to get them started, and they were experts after a few days, putting their own waypoints in etc. You have to understand that my parents really *are* VCR-challenged...
I'd never try and put in directions when the car was moving though - just pull over, type the details, and drive on afterwards. News-flash: driving without looking at the road (no matter what gizmo is involved) is not a good idea...
Simon
Re:Puh-leeze... (Score:5, Interesting)
Relying on technology without any clue will always cause problems. Remember that example years ago when they gave inaccurate calculators to a class of students who were taking a test and only one of them questioned the answers that were coming from his calculator?
My roomate used to drive 18 wheel trucks cross-country. On her first trip, she partnered with another new driver who used to work in the IT field. Needless to say, he loved his technology and ran out and got a GPS card and software for his laptop. He thought this was incredibly cool and paid very close attention to his GPS.
The first problem came when they were switching freeways. Even though he knew he should get over to the right hand side because he knew the exit was coming up, he wouldn't move over until the GPS software told him to. One time he almost missed an exit because the GPS software was a little late in telling him to move over (map inaccuracy, GPS inaccuracy, whatever). Let's just say he was lucky it was late and there was no cop around, because he'd have lost his license and/or caused an accident.
The next time, my roomate was sleeping when she was awakened by city traffic. His mapping software had told him the fastest route was on surface streets, so he obediently got off the freeway. The road narrowed from 8 lanes to four to two. When she looked out from behind the sleeping curtain, he was driving 30 miles per hour while staring at his laptop--not even looking at the road (and, remember, you don't necessarily stop so fast with a 30,000 pound trailer). She decided that if she wanted to live the night, she'd better get out there and get him out of the mess he'd gotten himself into.
Finally, he got completely confused when there was construction and suddenly the place his GPS told him to exit was closed. He had no idea what to do, so he just kept driving. When my roomate woke up a couple of hours later and asked him where they were, he had no clue and the GPS wasn't much help either. She took over the wheel, got off on the next exit, turned the truck back around, and followed the plain ol' paper map to get back to exit he was supposed to take (it was open on the eastbound leg)
When they finally got back, she decided to drive solo. He decided to become a Driver Manager...
Now, in the guy's defense, he'd obviously gotten hold of some crappy software which, at the very least, didn't account for the fact that the vehicle he was driving was not a passenger car. But he became so fixated on doing what the software told him that he didn't pay attention to what the road signs, his training, or just plain ol' common sense told him to do. He would just slavishly follow the computer's instructions.
I've seen MapQuest have the same effect, too. MapQuest seems to like to save you a couple tenths of a mile by making you "drive the hypotenuse." Turn left, turn right, turn left, turn right. If you just zoom the map out a little, you'll see you can just drive a quarter-mile, turn left, and drive another quarter-mile and be there.
Re:This is true for any in-car device... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:TomTom or Cell Phone? (Score:3, Interesting)
Honda's factory systems have that. Very star-trekish to bark out commands like "Radio! Tune 620 AM!" or "Audio off!" or "Find nearest gas station!"
Works great in Japan! (Score:2, Interesting)
You guys must have some really crappy navi systems in the US if this is a problem. I've rented plenty of cars in Tokyo, had no idea how to get where I was going, but the navi got me safe and sound, and no going the wrong way down a one-way street. Almost all new cars in Tokyo come with a navi system because it's almost impossible to find where you need to be on a map.
Here the maps are even updated in realtime to show you where construction is that day, where gas stations and eateries are. I hope when I get back something as good as what I can get in Japan is available.
Re:dashboard diplays (Score:4, Interesting)
While I certainly agree about the system status display of the Prius,
I would have to say that the negatives of the GPS system are FAR outweighed
by the positives. Having had the pleasure of using one for a while, I
find it painful NOT to have.
Things that are good about the systems:
1) the voice navigation prompts are very useful, and, while not absolutely precise, are close enough to make navigation much less painful.
2) The ability to locate nearby points of interest and get immediate directions to it (restaurants, parts stores, etc).
3) The increase in safety from not having to keep referring to a printed map or directions to find a new place.
4) I, for one, find it stressful to be driving through twisty country roads that I have never been on, with no clear map in my head as to where I am at, and how far I am from turns, etc. The GPS navigation unit removes much of that stress.
5) The ability to nearly instantly reroute to avoid obstructions, traffic jams, etc.
6) (with SOME units) the ability to update internal maps with current information on road conditions, etc, so, routes can be planned to avoid obstructions.
7) Frankly, it is just a REALLY cool gadget...and that is worth something.
I would agree that, as with many new toys, it can be slightly distracting
at first, but, I found that it rapidly became a background tool for me, so
while I would glance at the screen for intersections, etc, I did not stare
at it for long periods of time. We are, after all, adults, and need to
act like adults...not like gawking children (shocking as that thought might
be). This also means that we need to use the GPS as an auxilary tool, and
not the sole control piloting the vehicle. It is a data tool that needs
to be used with common sense... It has, a few times, gotten confused about
what direction the one-way streets ran and such, but, I realized this, and
simply went a block or so down from it, and picked up the route again...easy
enough to deal with.
Regards
Dave Mundt
Re:misleading headline (Score:3, Interesting)
Responsibility may lie ultimately with the end user, especially for having chosen such terribly-designed products. But many problems could be avoided if only automakers put some thought into how real human beings interact with their systems.
Me, I believe in capitalism. I pay other [mta.info] people [nyc.gov] to do the dirty work.
Re:Where's the problem ? (Score:2, Interesting)
It has an annoying quirk that occasionally crops up in rural locations. Basically, it lets you enter a destination by address and calculates a route. But if there is a part of the route that is not in the road database, it doesn't announce that fact until you reach that portion of the trip. Suddenly the display greys out and you get a message saying you are now on your own.
Pays to have a paper map as a backup. : )
I always wondered why the programmers didn't think that the "missing data" warning should be displayed when the route was initially calculated?