Is Sat Nav Technology Distracting Drivers?

Satellite navigation is now a part of everyday life for thousands of drivers in the UK. Many of us turn to it as a highly indispensable tool for navigating wild, rural areas or unfamiliar cities, yet there is some controversy surrounding this technology due to its potential to distract drivers from the road.

To answer this problem, several companies have developed apps and gadgets which are able to project navigation, speed, and even text message alerts onto the windscreen of a car, such as the free “heads-up-display” iPhone app, published in late 2013, and built-in displays available in select models of car manufacturers such as BMW, Volvo and Hyundai.

The corporations producing these exciting new devices say the heads-up technology is intended to reduce the risk of accidents, stopping people from having to fumble with a separate device or other distraction, but various road safety pressure groups have voiced concerns over it. Many activists have argued that instead of reducing the risk of accidents, these will distract drivers even more; constantly keeping a digital display in their view of the road ahead. While this new development in technology is still in its early stage, business analysts predict it will rapidly become cheaper and easier to install, most likely before any studies have been conducted to determine just how safe heads-up displays are.

This new sat nav technology is certainly evolving quickly. The new BMW models will feature alarms warning you when you’re approaching a speed limit, and allow you to change the radio station, whereas Hyundai’s 2015 Genesis model will scan nearby cars and calculate the possibility of a crash. Jaguar Land Rover seems to have made the boldest steps; their “360 virtual urban windscreen” fills the windscreen with even more features, highlighting pedestrians, points of interest and even displaying a “ghost car” which travels ahead, marking out the vehicle’s route.

Although all car manufacturers are of course interested by the emergence of heads-up displays, few of them appear to agree on what’s safe and what’s not. Mercedes has recently started offering such features on three of their models, but Christian Blokich, a spokesman for the company, gave a statement showing concerns for drivers’ safety. Blokich said the technology “is not something we actively push. Simplicity is the key, so it’s not a distraction. The more information you put on the screen, the more you’re going to confuse the customer. We don’t want customers to feel overwhelmed to the point they’re not comfortable driving the car.”

The little independent research that has been carried out says that simple displays in a driver’s field of vision can be helpful, but as the displays become more innovative, adding information with little to do with keeping the car on track, the risk of serious accidents will almost certainly increase.

UK interest groups such as the AA have cautioned drivers with safety tips concerning the use of sat nav devices. The most important point is to simply remember that you are in control of your vehicle, not the sat nav, and in situations that call for it, human judgement will offer a much better guarantee of your safety. Remember to never programme or fumble with a sat nav while driving, and when you programme it, make sure your device understands you perfectly (30 per cent of users say they have been taken to the wrong location by their devices)! Another common tip issued is to use a voice feature whenever you can, so that you depend more on instructions than an animated map.