to think there should be a Satnav that allows you to choose the easiest, safest route (rather than just the quickest)

I've often said a satnav needs a setting for 'the route I'd take if I lived here and knew where I was going'!

So infuriating when it's sending you down every random track in creation just because it's a 60mph rd and it thinks you'll get there faster. When in reality it's just national speed limit and you can't safely go over 30 and will need to reverse 15 times in 400yds.

I do love setting it to 'shortest' in rural France though and bimbling about the countryside.

Our satnav has a world of preference settings. We avoid toll roads, prefer motorways and A roads, and single track roads only for final mile. If you dig about in the menus, you may well find what you want. Alternatively I always used to follow the “signs to” method until nearly there.

Agreed. If you don't like what the internet is offering then engage your own brain instead.

Not that easy as the suggested route is often in coloured/bold so you can't realistically see the actual road underneath, i.e. how wide it is, and often you can't even see the road number, so can't tell if it's the A1, the A101 or the B1234 and even then, it's not always a good/accurate indicator of the quality (width/straightness nor hazards) of the road.

I've started to set the sat nav to "town name" instead of a particular street or post code as I've found it tends to give you the "main" road to the centre of the town rather than side/narrow roads to the outskirts, and then once I'm at the outskirts, I'll pull over and then put in the exact post code - seems to help stop the narrow/country road options when there's a major road available.

Though I have also started reverted back to reading road sign directional signs which are far more likely to give you the "best" main road and remain good for getting to your general direction in the easiest way rather than quickest. Just have the satnav in the background as that's good for spotting congestion/accidents etc far in advance.

When my son was living in South London Google Maps was determined to save me 6 whole minutes by making me drive right past Buckingham palace, and would constantly try and redirect me that way, rather than let me have a bit longer on the motorway. In the end I had to trick it with a different address just to bypass.

Surely our robot overloads should know by now that humans do not want that stress 😬

Yes can’t you just look at the route beforehand? And see whether it’s taking you on main roads or not?

On Waze there’s an option to avoid unpaved roads.

Does no-one else actually check their route before they go?

If it's a long or unfamiliar trip I'll generally give it a once over before I leave to make sure it's not doing anything stupid, and if it does route me through a tiny road or a residential area when theres a perfectly good A-road nearby then I'll add a waypoint on the A-road and see what it does to the time.

I suppose you'd need to do a bit of research yourself before selecting from the routes the sat nav gives as options. They can only do so much of the thinking for you.

@LeedsLoiner@onyourway please be assured that was a typo and I would never drink and drive. 🫣😂

I's like satnav to give me the route that passes the fewest houses, to minimize the immediate risk of running over a child and the longer term risk of polluting people's lungs

The sat nav in my car gives 3 choices automatically - quickest, shortest, greenest (not sure how it determines that.) DH's car only gives one route but has a huge range of preferences that you can store so you can tell it to avoid motorways or B roads where possible etc.
"Safest" is always going to be subjective though and I doubt any manufacturer would be daft enough to claim their device could make safety decisions on behalf of a driver.

But what is safest for one person isn't another. Some people prefer the narrow windy line and other motorways. It's very subjective so would be impossible to do.

A huge YES to this. It drives me insane to follow a difficult route that's literally just a few minutes faster than an easier route. Not necessarily "farmers field" bad route, but through a housing or industrial estate with lots of works vehicles, school kids, parked parent cars, etc., rather than an easy main road or dual carriageway that's 2 minutes longer.

A case in point was taking our son when he moved to London. I'd never driven in London before, hadn't a clue about the road network, localities, etc. Satnav sent me through a myriad of back streets, housing estates etc. I hadn't a clue where I was. After dropping him off, I started to follow the sat nav but then spotted some road directional signs (to the M1!) which I followed instead and it was a much easier drive on proper roads and dual carriageways, and didn't seem to take much longer to get back to the motorway.

I drive over 400 miles a week in a car I’ve owned over 20 years so know exactly what size gap I can squeeze it through and what it’s capable of, I can more than handle narrow roads however given the choice I’d much rather go 2 miles longer and use a main road!

I think if you're drinking on the motorway then that definitely classes as you as "dangerous" !! 😀

Easiest is so subjective though. I’ve seen comments on here from people who won’t drive on motorways, other people don’t like country lanes.
Just take 2 mins to look at the route options given, and pick the one you prefer.

... you can also choose to avoid motorways!
But seriously, what would be considered the safest route? For me it's the quickest preferably on motorway. But someone else might prefer slower roads stuck behind a lorry for good measure.

I’d love a stick to main roads option! We went to wales a couple of years ago and it took me down a narrow country lane and I have to reverse back down the lane 5 times due to cars and tractors coming the other way! In the end I turned round to the main road and it added 3 minutes to the journey! I’d rather it had taken me that way originally than the ‘short cut’ which actually added 20 mins on with all the reversing!! Plus a lot of those country lanes are 60mph limit so the satnav thinks quicker when actually you’re lucky if you can do 30 on them!

.......when you just know there is a decent A road somewhere nearby!

So just have a road atlas in the car and plan your own route.

One person's definition of easiest and safest might not be the same as another person's.

😀😀 motorway drinking always exciting

Fair doos, for some reason I zoomed into the bit about narrow roads etc, rather than the new driver bit.

There really need to be an option for larger vehicles too, vans, camping cars, caravans - sometimes legal restrictions are not even shown on the Sat nav.

I would have never considered this until I was recently driving to a village I'd never been to for the first time. I know the general area and assumed I'd get there on the usual motorway / A road.

No.

Google maps took me down tiny one lane roads over hill and down dale. I was in first gear coming up some of the steep hills and there were sheep in the road. It was scary, and completely unnecessary - there was a proper main road to the village! Though the main road might have taken a minute longer I'd prefer that to going on a safari drive through the wilderness.

No she said suited to the driver

And just to add - I live rurally and can, and do, drive on rural winding mountain roads. I can reverse up a farm track easily. That doesn't mean I always want to, especially if I know that there is a perfectly good 2 lane straight road that adds 90 seconds to my journey!