To think being able to follow basic directions without a satnav is an essential part of being able to driv

[Plateofcrumbs]

DH insists on driving the car when we travel together despite the fact he has no sense of direction and is useless at following road signs. He is totally dependent on the satnav, even for journeys we have done many times. If the satnav lets us down we inevitably get lost, take the wrong exits off roundabouts or take ridiculous routes just brcause the satnav tells us.

AIBU to think if he can't cope without the satnav he should let me drive?

[Trills]

Why does he insist on driving?

[MaidOfStars]

YANBU.

How hard is it to follow road signs (assuming he's reading them in a language in which he is competent...)? I mean, it's just reading and following instructions.

Is he actually safe on the road if his satnav goes down and he can't process what 'Newcastle, this way" means on a sign?

[Writerwannabe83]

YABU. I have used my SatNav lots of times and no doubt will in the future. It doesn't mean that essentially I can't drive or shouldn't be behind the wheel.

[Plateofcrumbs]

He prefers driving to being a passenger. I am a perfectly good driver and can also follow roads signs and don't always end up in the wrong lane at junctions

[december12]

Honestly? I think insisting that he always drives and over reliance on the SatNav are two completely separate issues.

[Topseyt]

We don't have an actual satnav. I often read the road map while hubby drives.

We will sometimes use the satnav function of our phones now though.

I kind of agree with you about over-reliance on satnav, probably as I learned to drive before they were around. Part of driving was the art of self-navigation because you had no choice if out alone.

That said though, I can see that satnavs can be great for anyone regularly having to drive distances on roads they are not familiar with. Common sense needs to be used alongside though.

[meglet]

I use a SatNav for unfamiliar roads because I'm a LP. We simply wouldn't get there otherwise.

Heaven help me if the dc's were in charge of navigation.

[CrohnicallyAnxious]

YANBU, and I think that the driving test actually includes some basic navigation now- rather than 'follow the road ahead' or 'take the next left' they will tell you to 'follow the signs to the leisure centre' or whatever.

Meglet- you would get there, as no doubt countless LPs did before sat navs were invented. It's just more difficult and would take you longer, as if you weren't sure which way to go you'd have to pull over and consult the map.

[Tinks42]

I absolutely LOVE my sat nav. Before them I hated driving anywhere that went over the page of my A-Z.

[Coffeethrowtrampbitch]

Yanbu. Fil can only drive with satnav and only if he has been previously driven to that location. He cannot go on motorways at all.

He learned to drive in his thirties is now in his sixties, and instead of going on an advanced driving course or extra lessons just doesn't go anywhere new unless mil is off work and drives him.

I'd have more sympathy but dh is learning in his thirties and has his test next week, and instead of any encouragement has been told he'll be a rubbish driver anyway because his dad is!

[EndoplasmicReticulum]

I don't have a satnav, I wouldn't be any good with one at all as it barks directions at me, I can't do left and right. I went the wrong way in my driving test but didn't fail.

Took a long trip on my own wih children recently, wrote out instructions beforehand and my 8 year old navigated. Those with babies might find this harder!

[Tinks42]

Sat navs are the best invention Ive ever come across. You can make a thousand mistakes and they just reset and take you from there. This is more about what people do when in the car.

[Bunbaker]

Sigh. Another satnav luddite thread.

I learned to drive before satnavs, and am an extremely competent map reader. However, there are situations like driving in an unknown busy city centre on my own where a satnav is invaluable. You can't stop and map read in situations like that, and road signs aren't always that useful unless you happen to know that your destination is in the direction of the hospital or leisure centre.

That said, if someone has driven a journey many times and still can't remember the way I would be worried as well.

[Tinks42]

whats with the "sighing" if you dont want to post then dont, very simple. Do you feel compelled to post on every AIBU?

[Karasea]

Insisting to drive is bit off if you like to too but presumably as a passenger you can help steer him down the right track.

I love driving but dh knows not to nod off. I have no sense of direction, get lost endlessly and think nothing of belting up and down motorways to get back to where I went wrong. I am a fab driver though an especially good at reversing round corners, emergency lane changes and u turns. The people I find challenging are the ones who can't move across when you give them at least 10 secs of warning a lane change is needed...

[Karasea]

I can often do a familiar journey ok but often not too! I can swop routes with another similar journey and only have one way to get there... It makes me irritating not a bad driver. Pick on lane hogs, phone users, speeding arses, corner parkers, people who can't park their car and those who can't use indicators before me!

[Tinks42]

Like you Karasea, I have no sense of direction whatsoever, never have had. Don't even know the date most of the time. BUT with a sat nav, the world's my oyster. I would now drive anywhere and not even bat an eyelid. Before that I used to worry myself to death about getting lost.

[dayshiftdoris]

YABU

I can't follow instructions as I don't know left from right... I had to have support for my driving test...

Sat navs are easier as they have arrows, so are road signs... It's verbal instructions I can't manage at all. Friends don't even bother to tell me anymore and just point.

Oh and I get lost.... A LOT... Yes even places I have been before and know well. It was a bundle of laughs when I worked on community

[stubbornstains]

YANBU at all. On the day the Tripods invade, the Satnavs will all band together and deliberately misdirect the entire driving population, to aid world takeover by their alien overlords. Only us luddites will be able to find the routes to escape to the rebel strongholds, with the aid of our trusty £1.99 AA road atlases, purchased from Little Chef in 2004, with the ketchup stains on Bodmin.

[CupidStuntSurvivor]

A sat nav does give him basic directions. YABU. I use sat nav a hell of a lot and am a perfectly safe driver. If the sat nav fails, I'm not suddenly about to drive into someone's living room. The rules of the road are the same regardless of where you're going or whether or not you're lost.

[Karasea]

Tinks- yup never know the date either! And yes sat nav makes my life sooooooooooooo much easier. I am pretty sanguine about being lost but still there have been times when I have gone hours out of my way...grrrrrrrrr.

[Tinks42]

Same as you Dayshift. Im left handed and blame it on that!!!! i live in a "right handed world" after all

But, never fear, when the chips are down Stubborn, Im sure I'd cope and revert.

[Snatchoo]

YABU. I can't find mt arse with or without a satnav.

I'm good at driving though!

[Tinks42]

I live in the heart of london so consider myself a very alert good driver too, I just hate fecking maps or pages of google directions Let's face it, they dont fit well on the windscreen.