Posted By Tina J Ambler Does anyone have written procedures in respect of the Safe Use of Satellite Navigation Equipment in vehicles please or point me in the right direction? Something along the lines of the use of mobile phones whilst driving is the way I am thinking. I have obtained the following so far:- Safely Using a GPS Based Device If you own a device then you should ensure that it is used safely. As many of the devices are retrofitted the safe positioning should also be considered, the following points will help you do this; As the device will be informing you it should be within your field of vision whilst not obscuring your view of the road around your car, including your peripheral vision. The device should not provide an unnecessary distraction and any settings should not be changed whilst the vehicle is moving. You should also make sure you understand what the icons mean so that it can be read quickly without taking your concentration away from the road for too long. It should be placed away from any airbags to prevent it causing injury if an airbag were to deploy. It should be secured firmly. It should be kept out of the way of a vehicle’s controls. Regards Tina

Posted By Tina J Ambler Thank you for your suggestion, I will try going down that route. No pun intended. I am surprised at the lack of response, has no one else thought about the use of Sat Nav? Regards

Posted By Tabs Yes Tina, I would refer you to the operator's manual too. Mine came with about 20 pages of do's and don'ts (ok, exaggeration, but it took ages to read what they did provide). Your points are sensible, but you could add: It must not be used for entertainment whilst moving (some of them play DVD's). The display should be dimmed during night driving to avoid glare affecting low-light vision. Voice prompts are often better than looking at the screen for directions. Turn the unit off until needed (less distraction along the easy part of the journey). I'm sure there were lots more in the user manual, but these are the main tricks I have learnt after three years of use. Merv - I too find it invaluable and a lot less distracting than the stress of trying to use an A-Z in a strange town. p.s. odd that the spell checker wants me to use "dont's" instead of "don'ts" ... I thought the apostrophe was to show an abbreviation, not a plural. Silly me, what do I know?

Posted By Jim Walker Renny, I'd agree with your comments. I was helping my brother (farm manager) the other week on a lane that ends in a field. Flagged a bloke down -"you can't get down there mate, its a dead end" response "my Sat nav says I can, so go away" or words to that effect. After a few minutes we followed him down the lane and sat on our landrover bonnet watching him get deeper & deeper in the mud in a gateway he had tried to turn in, laughing and generally winding him up. Us country yokels are very easy to entertain! We refused to help him after the earlier abuse - he might be still there!!

Posted By Brett Day I would agree with most of the comments on here, especially the positioning so it doesn't obscure the view of the road. Tabs, I tend to leave mine on all the time as it has traffic feeds and can re-route around hold ups (it reduces my stress level no end), if you have a Garmin unit, they can be set to a 'night mode' that automatically switches over to a darker less glarey screen. And again the unit is a tool and the mapping is not always 100%, I've found mine is about on par with OS maps, bearing in mind they are updated every 4 years, so like using a map don't switch brain off.