To be irritated that my DH is so reliant on a satnav

[GothicRainbow]

Even just on short local journeys that he should know as he drives them often enough he insists on using it. He is completely and utterly reliant on it and it drives me nuts!

We're currently driving back South after a weekend away and the journey is pretty simple M1, M25, M3 then home. I fell asleep (up a lot of the night with DS, hence why I'm not driving) and wake up to find we've missed the M25 junction and we are merrily driving towards Brent Cross. Apparently he didn't see the M25 junction and it's not his fault because we didn't have the satnav on .

We've now added another half hour on to an already long journey!

I am not going to get a map out while I am driving, or try and find somewhere to stop and look at it when the SatNav can just tell me where I am going without me taking my eyes off the road.

Can't say its ever been a problem Sparklingbrook. In cities you just have to keep alert for road signs if you forget your directions, in rural areas its easier to stop and check for landmarks on the map. I've driven and cycled all over Europe like this and even on a bike, it surely has to be more convenient than stopping and getting out a phone, waving it about for a signal, loading up the site, etc..

YABU. I could get lost on my own street I have such a poor sense of direction. I bought a satnav before I even bought a car.

I wouldn't want to stop especially when driving at night. Cities are a doddle with the sat nav.

"In cities you just have to keep alert for road signs if you forget your directions"

Not all cities have good road signage. A lot of signs are on the roads themselves and you can't see them when they are covered with cars.

I drove for years with maps, but much prefer to use the satnav. It just gives me peace of mind: previously I always used to worry in case I missed the turning I needed, or had to stop if I got lost or if I had to go a different route than the one I planned due to roadworks or anything similar. The satnav takes all that stress away.

In fact, just to highlight how shite my navigation skills are, there's a motorway I drive on several times a week. Have done for years now. Couldn't tell you which one though...I have no idea. And if I know a route TO a place very well, it's completely unrecognizable to me if I come back that way. My brain just flat out doesn't connect the dots. So, satnav helps. And Google satnav is a godsend...keeps me away from accidents, reroutes me if a quicker route becomes available mid-journey.

To the PP who said you can't be a safe driver if you miss a motorway junction, what utter bollocks. Are you an unsafe pedestrian if you don't see a road name? Suddenly start swerving everywhere and not seeing cars coming? Thought not.

I get lost in my house so it is a must for me.

There are a few journeys which I do regularly and I know like the back of my hand so I don't put it on then.

I can't read maps very well. I love my sat nav.

And they are great for informing you of speed cameras! ;)

I have a SatNav but only use it for long journeys (I like to play Beat The SatNav safely) and I tend to do without it for local journeys. SIL says I drive like a taxi driver because I know where Im going all the time

I dont know how anyone can safely map read whilst driving.

"I dont know how anyone can safely map read whilst driving."

This ^ many times over. Especially on busy roads where there is nowhere to stop.

And in the dark Bun where you would have to get the torch out and make sure your doors were locked.

Dh is really dyslexic AND no sense of direction, so for him a Satnav is literally life changing.

And I had a similar experience to the wedding couple up thread. I went on a training course for some software, venue was a few hundred miles from home. I ended up at the head office f the organiser, whose postcode was more prominent on the letter than the venue....

LOL And in the dark Bun where you would have to get the torch out and make sure your doors were locked. my car has interior lights and self locking doors!

Basically, I think the sat nav will miss things, it won't tell me where dodgy neighbourhoods are (though if I look at the whole route on the map and see a neighbouring name I might). It won't give me the mental picture that contour lines, rivers, streams, different road sizes, forests, etc. which are shown on the OS, it will just give me a wooden set of instructions and some coloured lines, all very homonginised and basic information. My brain is trained to read the map and convert it to getting me there with minimum checking, I know how to keep a picture of it in my mind.

Do many people get attacked from stopping their cars and checking maps? Outwith the dodgy neighbourhoods I mentioned above? I mean, do axe wielding murderers really storm the countryside, bricks at the ready, to smash your car windows? How comes its never in the news?

Ooh a posh car then TheChandler does it not have a built in SatNav? Some have 3D views.

I would not be happy trying to find somewhere to pull over in the dark then sit there with my interior lights on in full view of everyone else, poring over a map. That's how I feel personally.
It's about how you feel yourself safety-wise not necessarily that there are lots of axe murderers about. A friend did indeed have an unfortunate incident when getting into her car one night.

I think the point you are missing TheChandler is that it isn't always possible or safe to stop the car to look at a map or a list of directions. I also don't like driving with my interior light on.

I never totally rely on a satnav and always keep a map in the car. I tend to use the satnav in conjunction with a map. I have an excellent sense of direction as well, but there are occasions which I have already stated where a satnav is the most practical solution - busy city centres.

I hate the bloody thing as it does stop DP learning routes. They are very useful for big towns but can't see the need for them up and down motorways.

He also uses it everywhere and cannot remember how to get anywhere outside of a 10 mile radius without it. Maddening.

I am also shit with directions but have learned how to use a map and road signs.

I always buy my cars secondhand Sparkinglingbrook and I always look for ones without sat nav; you can save hundreds if not more

Just to clarify, I don't drive at all while reading a map and with the interior lights on!

And honestly, I haven't attacked anyone or scared them with what I'm doing in full view with either...not yet, anyway.

I can't remember the last time I looked at a proper map. Reminds me of Dad unfurling the Ordnance Survey on the car bonnet or getting the A to Z out.

But I can read a map and was pretty good at orienteering in my youth.

Is sat nav not like a really crap kind of map though? I mean apart from the person telling you where to go, what appears on screen is a really basic map, with almost no features?

In other words, a bit like something you might draw up yourself on the back of an envelope if giving someone directions, or a really cheap map, not with any of the detail like an OS map or even a good road map?

Basically, I just like a bit more detail than that. I can tune out what I don't need, OS maps are designed to let you do that.

I spent many years driving all over before SatNavs. As for how we did it, well we used road signs, road numbers and junction numbers. Some times stopping and asking!

It's like when people who have never known life without a mobile ask how you manage to meet up with friends. Well you arranged a time you were on time.

I dont know how anyone can safely map read whilst driving.

But you don't. You think 'I need to go up the B3217 until I get to the next junction then left then right onto the B7642. After that I should start seeing signs for the town I'm looking for.'

No, it's way better than that TheChandler, they are really good maps now. TBF I don't actually look at the screen when I am driving as I don't like things on the dash, so I put it in the door pocket and listen to the instructions.

It's all about the voice directions for me.

I have a volunteer job which involves going all over the place and it's reassuring. I do sometimes look at Google maps before I leave to get a general idea of where it is, and Streetview for where to park.

"They are very useful for big towns but can't see the need for them up and down motorways."

I agree. When we go on holiday we tend to use the satnav for the last fiddly bit of journey. We don't need it for the first part eg M1, M42, M5, A30 etc, but if we had to find our way to the middle of Exeter for example we would use the satnav because, even though I print off directions from google map I still like to have the satnav as a back up.

I would agree that they aren't necessary for motorways, but they only speak to tell you there's an exit ahead or bleep about speed cameras. Plus tell you there's a traffic jam coming up and if there's an option to avoid.