When you say swept area - does that mean the dirty bits are ok?
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does that mean the dirtybits are ok?
Only if you're over 21 Adam.
Satnav is for people like the West End limo driver who doesn't know the way from Wardour Street to Savile Row barely 200 yards away just on the other side of the Hub of the Universe.
It is the reason why so many smart new people carriers are driven so very erratically in traffic.
If you don't know where you are, you shouldn't be there in the first place. Technology will not save you. You are lost.
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Agreed m'Lud.
99% of the time I am driving I know where I am going, on the odd occasion that I am looking for a street name or house number having a small TV blocking the view out of the windsreen will certainly not help. Sat nav is fine for travelling salesmen etc though should not need to be a feature in every new car or every motorist's christmas list.
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Attaching GPSs to windscreens is banned in California (Garmin, for example, always supply an alternative means of fixing), and generally CA laws filter through to the rest of the world eventually.
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you mean it will be law to be gay, transvestite or lesbian?
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Have these things become compulsory in California TVM? They were only optional last time I was there.
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oh yes.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Gives a whole new meaning to "TVM"
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Agreed m'Lud. 99% of the time I am driving I know where I am going, on the odd occasion that I am looking for a street name or house number having a small TV blocking the view out of the windsreen will certainly not help. Sat nav is fine for travelling salesmen etc though should not need to be a feature in every new car or every motorist's christmas list.
My satnav gives me the name of the side street I am approaching,a quick glance at the top of the screen is much safer than trying to see a name plate that is badly positioned or not there.If I've put the address in it tells me where it is,don't have to look at anything,except the road of course.
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If you don't know where you are, you shouldn't be there in the first place.
I disagree.
Having moved to Cardiff from Portsmouth the satnav has been a saving grace to me, especially when the road I planned to go down is closed. Just think of the delays I would cause pulling over to ask/consult the map.
Back to the original point yes I have seen some very definately 'dodgy' mountings. One was right in front of the driver!!
I must admit that mine is mounted in the bottom right hand corner of the screen next to the A pillar but having ridden bikes for some years I do look out for them.
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There aren't many dirty bits on the drivers side of my car (windscreen!)
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Mine fits neatly down the side of my seat between the seat and the handbrake. Out of the way but easy to reach and peruse when its needed.
My wife has hers in the back of the passenger seat; for the same reasons.
Agree with poster that said about sat nav being as (or more) dangerous than mobile phones!
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"sat nav being as (or more) dangerous than mobile phones!"
I don't recall ever having to hold my satnav to my ear or even hold a conversation with it.
What's more, it enables me to follow its instructions without taking my eyes from the road, consult map or search for (often missing) street names. It may not be much use in getting me from London to York via A1 and A64, (easy) but it can be very useful in finding that address in York. On the other hand, getting from Midlands to Wirral via A50, M6, M56, M53 is easy but if I want to avoid the M6? Put it into the satnav and off we go with no need to stop to consult map.
Like many things, used sensibly, Satnav is a positive help with regard to safe driving, used in a daft way it is a distraction and a danger - so much depends on the user, don't condemn it out of hand.
Oh and by the way - I love maps!
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Phil
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sat nav being as (or more) dangerous than mobile phones
Tell you what guys, I shall read my huge road atlas or A 2 Z instead instead.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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"I shall read my huge road atlas or A 2 Z instead instead. "
Hope you've got a bracket thing for them that mounts on the windscreen. Hate to think of you holding them in your (steering) hands
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Phil
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watching people playing with their toys as they drive is as dangerous as reading a map on the move or mobile phone.
Its a toy in 99% of the cases its used; no more no less!
You want 1 you have 1 I dont mind. But used on the move they are downright dangerous and I see the case for them being banned!
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"used on the move they are downright dangerous"
I must admit, I have yet to see that (though I have seen any number of atlases being read while car being driven)
If they are used on the move I think you are correct , as you say "and I see the case for them (being used on the move) being banned!"
isn't using them on the move illegal anyway? (Certainly says "on the box" that it shouldn't be done.)
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Phil
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I'd be very disappointed if sticking sat nav on your windscreen was made illegal - it's such a clear piece of evidence that the car is being driven by a complete bird and should be treated with extra caution.
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"it's such a clear piece of evidence that the car is being driven by a complete bird and should be treated with extra caution."
Only a tit could make a statement like that
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Phil
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:-D
I have to confess, I got my sat nav as a present so didn't pay for it and I'll be honest - I don't really need it that much. But it's a great gadget. It's handy to have with you all the time but I use it for the speed cameras and traffic information which it automatically routes me around so I have it on pretty much every day.
It's inches away from the speedo so checking it really isn't that difficult and even if you sat and stared at it, your peripheral vision would still see obstacles on the road. (I'm not suggesting you try that by the way).
They really are marvellous pieces of kit - my uncle is the proverbial gadget man only unlike me - he has the money to throw at them. He does about 1,000 miles a week and his is invaluable to him too.
I have to confess, I completely disagree with all this talk of them being distracting. If I didn't have it and I was going somewhere I didn't know, I'd be looking at road signs, road markings and devoting just as much attention to that as I do the sat nav. Besides, it's no different to stealing a glance at the speedo (which we're meant to do every 5 seconds anyway!), or the trip computer, or the heater controls etc. But I will fully concede that there are idiots that will stick them in the middle of the screen and start playing with it whilst doing 90 down the motorway.
One thing I've learnt though, if you're going to use Sat Nav on a journey, make sure you use it completely and ignore road signs. Every time I've not known where I am*, it's been because I've listened to the sat nav part of the way and then started looking at road signs and trying to get there myself. Never works.
* Getting lost.
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I'd be very disappointed if sticking sat nav on your windscreen was made illegal - it's such a clear piece of evidence that the car is being driven by a complete bird and should be treated with extra caution.
That is one of the dumbest things I have ever read.
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When you say "attaching anything to the swept area of your windscreen other than the mirror or tax disk is illegal" would be interested to know exactly what law are you referring to? Did the police specify the exact offence?
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Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986
tried looking for the exact section, but got fed up and gave up.Try a google search if you want to persevere
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Westpig,
Checked that - as far as I am aware RV C & U Regs only regulations relate to type of glazing with an amendment prohibiting use of tinted tranparent film. If attaching absolutely anything to the windscreen was illegal it would mean everyone with a car parking permit or the like attached was a lawbreaker.
I think the police were perhaps overstepping the mark here thought they were cetainly correct to insist the film removed
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Switching suddenly from disapproving to interested mode, do these devices work equally well everywhere, with every new third world metropolis back alley appearing as if by magic, or is it like Google Earth which shows the roof of my house in London but doesn't even show a meaningful blur for quite large suburbs and even towns in Sussex?
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Sort of.
It will always tell you exactly where you are anywhere on the face of the earth in a co-ordinates format, weather or not there is an accurate map of the area or not it can relate to is another matter.
GPS on the other hand managed to guide cruise missiles donw sadams chimney with no problem.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Interesting point !
If there suddenly springs up a new housing estate, or even new village etc, how soon before it is recognised by the system?
No use if it doesn't and you are relying on it to get you somewhere; especially if the old road that it did recognise is no longer there! Several examples of this near where I live.
You can probably tell I have never used one! (or wanted 1, or would use 1!)
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Can take years, and it depends,
For example, there is a new estate near me. been there for three years, not on my sat nav map. On the other hand the new heathrow terminal 5 junction (built within the last two years and not even fully open yet) is fully and accurately displayed on my 18 month old map.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Why worry abut Sat.Nav. ? I have just read of a Turkish lorry driver who killed a cyclist whist watching a portable TV mounted on the dashbord.
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Pity he was out at the pub at the time. How many judges and lawyers have been killed so far in the attempt to prosecute the old monster with laws carefully tailored to protect, er, well, all sorts of people...
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Yeah, TVM, exact coordinates, but a bit technical, what?
A row of figures isn't nearly as good as 'Turn left after the chip shop, be polite to the Moroccan teenagers, watch out for Sjhelley and I really mean it, if you make it past the fire station you should be all right...'
KnowImean, sorta?
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I turn the street names off and listen to nothing but the bearings. I pretend I'm captaining my own frigate.
So going to the chippy becomes...
"Officer of the watch, put us on a heading bearing 235 mark 47."
It brightens even the dullest of trips. Not recommended if you have passengers though - unless they want in on the game too.
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How many judges and lawyers have been killed so far in the attempt to prosecute the old monster with laws carefully tailored to protect, er, well, all sorts of people...
Pleanty Lud in less liberal countires.
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Regulation 30 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 provides for the driver of a motor vehicle to have a full view of the road and traffic ahead and that all glass or transparent material on the vehicle should be maintained free from obstruction of the driver's vision.
30(1) Every motor vehicle shall be so designed and constructed that the driver thereof while controlling the vehicle can at all times have a full view of the road and traffic ahead of the motor vehicle.
30(2) Instead of complying with the requirement of paragraph (1) a vehicle may comply with Community Directive 77/649, 81/643, 88/366, 90/630 or, in the case of an agricultural motor vehicle, 79/1073.
30(3) All glass or other transparent material fitted to a motor vehicle shall be maintained in such condition that it does not obscure the vision of the driver while the vehicle is being driven on a road .
SOURCE(S) Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986
RELATED MATERIAL 30 View to the front
NATIONAL REGION Great Britain
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i'm fairly sure it is an offence, under these regs, in a similar fashion to why you can't have a large stone chip in the area that the wipers wipe and get your car through the MOT. You can have your satnav in the areas the wipers don't wipe, but that would be strange position and would annoy the hell out of any passenger
i've bought an aftermarket bracket that fits tightly into the air vents on the dashboard. Swedish company that will sell you one for any make of car, but not cheap at about £40
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