Satnavs- a position rant

[mjr]

I see tons of them, but when obvious failures like defective lights are going unchallenged, what chance is there of someone checking windscreens?

Surely that Garmin ad should be reported to the ASA for encouraging criminal driving?

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Because the Sat-Nag is removable??

Yes, isn't the swept area, meant to be free of obstructions? (barring, before its extinction, the VED disc)

I, too, often see Sat-Nags, blue-badges, in the drivers vision, often to the point that you can't see the drivers face - thus he/she can't see you either!!
I give them as wide a berth as possible, be it on the bike, or in the car

 

[sheddy]

It's not hard. Just throw the mount away.

Set destination, turn up the volume, lob it on the passenger seat. Don't fiddle when driving.
(my tomtom will even talk to me when chucked in the glovebox !)

 

[mjr]

(my tomtom will also talk to you when in the glovebox !)

Why have you climbed in the glovebox? Is your chauffeur/se that scarily bad?

 

[Vapin' Joe]

It's not hard. Just throw the mount away.

Set destination, turn up the volume, lob it on the passenger seat. Don't fiddle when driving.
(my tomtom will even talk to me when chucked in the glovebox !)

I don't bother with the mount on the few occasions I need to use mine, it sits on the floor of the passenger footwell. I have a dashcam mounted next to the mirror on the screen, but that is unobtrusive.

 

[Drago]

Because the Sat-Nag is removable??

Yes, isn't the swept area, meant to be free of obstructions? (barring, before its extinction, the VED disc)

I, too, often see Sat-Nags, blue-badges, in the drivers vision, often to the point that you can't see the drivers face - thus he/she can't see you either!!
I give them as wide a berth as possible, be it on the bike, or in the car

on a related note, short women in Range Roonies and Land Cruisers worry me. How can it be safe to drive if you're so short you have to look through the steering wheel to see?

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

on a related note, short women in Range Roonies and Land Cruisers worry me. How can it be safe to drive if you're so short you have to look through the steering wheel to see?

True

Not forgetting, the wannabe 'gangstas'(or racing drivers), who have their seats so low, & reclined that they too are staring through the spokes, or, holding themselves up via the wheel, when parking/in tight situations
In an RTC situation, submarining is possible, where the lowered position allows the person start to slide under the seat-belt

 

[mjr]

Why? Which law is being broken?

I think it's Road Traffic Act 1988 s41D.

 

[captain nemo1701]

I'm old fashioned and can read a map. I also have something called sense-of-direction. An ex member of staff here had his car broken into and the sat nav nicked even though it was hidden away. Thieves saw the sucker marks on his windscreen.

 

[marknotgeorge]

Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986?

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.

 

[Tim Hall]

I'm old fashioned and can read a map. I also have something called sense-of-direction. An ex member of staff here had his car broken into and the sat nav nicked even though it was hidden away. Thieves saw the sucker marks on his windscreen.

I get a machine to read a map for me, so I can concentrate on driving.

 

[Milkfloat]

I'm old fashioned and can read a map. I also have something called sense-of-direction. An ex member of staff here had his car broken into and the sat nav nicked even though it was hidden away. Thieves saw the sucker marks on his windscreen.

You have an up to date street map for every road in Britain in your car, must be an estate?

 

[mjr]

Which bit? 41D(a) appears to relate to the position of the driver - not equipment - and 41D(b) clearly relates to hand-held mobile phones.

(a) - surely if no position gives a full view because of some equipment stuck in the middle of the screen, then any driving is necessarily "driving a motor vehicle in a position which does not give ... a full view of the road and traffic ahead"?

EDIT: My understanding of the law is that it is actually rather silent on this issue, other than through Regulation 30 of the The Road Vehicles (Construction & Use) Regulations, which relates primarily to damage to the screen itself or stickers on the screen.

Regulation 104 also looked possible, but I'm not sure which part of the RTA makes breach an offence and 41D(a) seemed more straightforward.

 

[marknotgeorge]

That appears to be related to the condition of the glass/transparent material itself (this is where the damage and Zone A / Zone B bit comes in) rather than things like sat navs that are attached to the windscreen or the dashboard and which may impinge on the drivers view through the whole of the windscreen.

I think there is a potential issue, with the growth in sat navs, cameras, etc. but that the law hasn't actually kept up.

I suppose it depends upon how one understands the word 'maintained' in the original legislation. If your action (sticking a TomTom on the windscreen) or inaction (allowing the windscreen to become obsured by dirt or damage) causes the view to be obscured, then arguably you've not maintained it.

 

[fossyant]

With windscreen cracks that gets picked up at MOT. Sat Navs etc won't be in the screen.

Unfortunately cracks, sat navs, phones aren't picked up by the police as we've bugger all officers on the ground.