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

[ArtistBaptist]

Particularly for new or learner drivers?
This would help them to avoid the really narrow, single lane roads which might require reversing etc.

Maybe such a Satnav does already exists?

The problem with 'easiest' route is that it's very subjective and dependent on very specific local conditions, including changing ones (e.g. visibility at junctions due to hedgerow growth etc..).

As a new driver, I preferred the narrow one-track lane to the seemingly more straightforward route that included a right-hand turn onto a busy road. I made myself do the latter to increase my confidence!

Google Maps does this, but The technology to explain why the 3 very similar length routes suggested might be preferred doesn’t really exist yet. I think we are getting closer.

for now it will still be a general thing though, where I send my young driver down one or another because I know that there is a very difficult interchange or turn. Programs that work purely on nodes and speed don’t have that information at the moment.

this is an interesting idea though. It is too much data to manually collect. It is the kind of thing that could be learned though. The shapes of roads make a huge difference combined with car density and that information could be extrapolated to other locations. You could take the data from the driverless cars or put sensors in regular cars. Perhaps the data is already being collected by the same vehicles that are creating the maps now that I think about it. They don’t run those cars often enough though to get enough sampling. Sorry, data scientist, figuring out the easiest way to do this is fun…

Satnavs on BMWs should make a very unpleasant noise when indicators are not used.

On SUVs they should only send you on wide roads.

@Ponderingwindow you sound like my kind of person! 😁

After driving over a thousand miles in the UK in the last week I wholeheartedly agree. Some of the routes Google maps took us on were absolutely ludicrous. Not just ludicrous but dangerous too. Narrow winding single track lanes with two metre high hedges and very few passing places when there was an A road going the same way half a mile away.

Some of the routes Google maps took us on were absolutely ludicrous. Not just ludicrous but dangerous too. Narrow winding single track lanes with two metre high hedges and very few passing places when there was an A road going the same way half a mile away.

But why follow the Google route when you knew there was an alternative nearby that you would prefer?

Garmin and Tomtom satnav units have settings where you can add your vehicle’s dimensions.
if you tell it you’re in a motor home or whatever it’ll stick to wider roads

I think it won't be long before we have more personalised AI enabled sat nav where it learns your preferences and recommends routes based on those. I would love one that took me the traffic light controlled way rather than having to do a dodgy right hand turn at a hellish junction with no lights that's a well known accident blackspot.

It's too subjective. I feel safest on a motorway and find that easier. Talking to friends who learned to drive in rural areas, they are more comfortable on narrow lanes. You can check the directions and find which route suits you best.

I agree. I'd spend a couple of minutes to avoid a horrible right turn with poor visibility.

There usually is.

Yes this! It's not about your ability to drive or not, but that quite often what it thinks is the fastest route really is not as its single track with high hedges and lots of bends so you have to go at about 20mph rather than the 60mph it thinks you can go at.

we've got one of those near us. You can be sat trying to get out by turning right onto the fast A road for ages, and there are lots of accidents there. I go slightly further to get on the A road at a roundabout instead. Probably saves me time, certainly saves me danger - but the satnav just sees "slightly shorter route".

It can take quite a long time to check the route options its giving you

We kinda knew where we were heading but I put google maps on to be sure 🥴 took a right arse wipe of a journey including a single track with no passing places
next time we will wing it

It’s built in with BMW. When I input a new destination it brings up a little map of usually three routes and you choose which one. I can also drag the lines or set waypoints (eg via a certain junction or place). Once we found the preference settings I was even happier. My favourite bit is it tells you which lane you need to be in at busy junctions. No more hasty lane changes at motorway junctions! But I’m sure other satnavs offer these things if you dig in the menus - I had time to kill waiting for a delayed train so invested the time wisely!

I'm rural and agree with you. To me country lane is a track that has grass growing in the middle and extremely rate passing places. I'd rather avoid any single track winding road.

We have a single track road joining two major A roads I use almost daily. I don't mind these as I can pull over or reverse back to pull in as I know it. But long windy ones that go on for over a mile? No thank you!

What makes these roads worse or when you reverse back and the person in front keeps creeping up to my bonnet, so I just then pull forward to re adjust if I'm going to hit a bush. Not run in a old car with no sensors or rear camera. Typically a large car with blinding lights too.

Oh, I feel you. I remember this past winter, I had to visit a school in a town about 15 miles from mine. Google Maps got me there fine, down a main road, and then a sensible route through the town. Then, the return journey, it sent me some bizarre cross-country route. It was pouring with rain, and just miserable. Unfortunately, I didn't know the town well enough to be able to re-trace the route I'd taken in.

I've got a 5+ hour drive to Cornwall later this month, and I've already carefully planned the route, in order to stay as sane as possible. I'll have a piece of paper next to me with the main roads I need listed, so I can just follow that, and not rely on Google Maps too much. I've also chosen a route that follows a road I know for the first 1:30, which will help.

Exactly!

Can I reverse into a passing place 200m back up the road to let a tractor past, yep no problem. Do I actually want to, just to shave 3 minutes off my journey? not particularly.

Get a sat nav (or sat nav app) designed for HGV. That'll avoid the narrow routes, schools etc by default. Search for something like "TomTom GO Expert Plus" or "CoPilot GPS" (app).

People always say this but why do you need to cope with country lanes if you will never usually drive down one?

Or why do you need to be able to drive on motorways if you live on Jersey or in Cornwall? Or in the Highlands?

You need to be able to cope safely with the driving you do or need to do.

Same here. And I will often turn left and go round a roundabout if that's an option to avoid waiting ages to turn right.

yes! I've had satnavs that give you the option to avoid motorways, but not ones that give you the option to prefer bigger roads and avoid country lanes where you have to reverse half a mile to give way while keeping an eye out for horses!

I would try greenest/most eco friendly - this minimises stopping and starting.

But yes the best thing is probably to plan the route in advance, either on a computer and then send to your phone, or on the app directly and save the route before you even get into the car. You can click on the route and drag it onto different roads to avoid roads you don't want to go down.

I would say buy a paper road atlas and plan out the route that way, but I do think google is good for avoiding traffic and it is helpful to have the verbal reminders rather than having to memorise the whole route (or what my mum used to do - scribbled directions sellotaped to the steering wheel!)

I might blow your mind with this but people do occasionally travel out of their local area...

If anything, being able to drive means it's actually more likely you'll travel further afield...surely it's sort of one of the main advantages to being able to drive?

Surely very few people live somewhere where there's ONLY an option of motorways vs tiny rural roads. Isn't it only something like 20% of the UK population live rurally! I live in a fairly major city and have both motorway and B roads (and everything in-between) within 5 minutes drive.