It’s something many of us have probably wondered. So we have the sat-nav installed in the car, or, if we’re prepared to splash out a few extra bucks, the vehicle may have a manufacturer built-in version – and then we start to use it while we’re driving around.

And no matter how clear the audio we still can’t resist the temptation to look at the map to see which exit of the roundabout we should take – meaning we lift our eyes away from the road and onto the digital display. Yet, unlike when you consult the speedometer, or the clock, or your watch, or the fuel gauge, you don’t just glance at the instrument and back to the road. When you consult a map on a sat-nav you have to stare at it for a lot longer to take in the information – maps are like that.  Maybe the difference is merely a few tenths of a second but that can make all the difference. According to Autobiz  sat-navs are causing accidents.  And that should come as no surprise. They quote a conclusion of researchers at Royal Holloway and Lancaster Universities which found that motorists using sat-navs are more likely to swerve, speed up or fail to notice pedestrians. Their findings were based on trial-runs using a car simulator.

Sat-navs, like many modern-day gadgets, are tremendously useful devices – especially if you’re traveling abroad or doing a lot of point-to-point driving when time is of the essence. When using a sat-nav we suggest doing so with caution:

– try not to consult the map while driving, pull over and have a good look instead – just because you don’t want to use an atlas doesn’t mean you can’t pull over and have a good look at the screen;

– never, never, key in compass co-ordinates or run destination searches while driving. Always pull into the side of the road for this;

-try to keep the sat-nav screen at eye level if possible.

Hope this helps

Safe driving