NAV improves driving safety

[efusco]

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070214/nyw088.html?.v=90

Key findings:
* The use of a satellite navigation device improves the driver's behavior
when driving through an unknown area to an unknown destination;
* The use of a satellite navigation system heightens alertness and reduces
the stress levels of the driver;
* Drivers who do NOT have the use of a satellite navigation solution have
12% more damage claims to their vehicles;
* The use of a TomTom satellite navigation solution reduces the amount of
miles driven by 16%;
* The use of a TomTom satellite navigation solution reduces travel time
when driving through an unknown area to an unknown destination by 18%;
* The use of a TomTom satellite navigation solution reduces the workload
(the amount of effort it takes the driver to drive) of the driver when
traveling through an unknown area to an unknown destination.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070214/nyw088.html?.v=90

[nerfer]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Feb 14 2007, 09:28 AM) [snapback]390152[/snapback]</div>

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070214/nyw088.html?.v=90

Key findings:
* The use of a satellite navigation device improves the driver's behavior
when driving through an unknown area to an unknown destination;
* The use of a satellite navigation system heightens alertness and reduces
the stress levels of the driver;
* Drivers who do NOT have the use of a satellite navigation solution have
12% more damage claims to their vehicles;
* The use of a TomTom satellite navigation solution reduces the amount of
miles driven by 16%;
* The use of a TomTom satellite navigation solution reduces travel time
when driving through an unknown area to an unknown destination by 18%;
* The use of a TomTom satellite navigation solution reduces the workload
(the amount of effort it takes the driver to drive) of the driver when
traveling through an unknown area to an unknown destination.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070214/nyw088.html?.v=90
[/b]

I'm not saying this study is suspect, but it should be noted that it was underwritten in part by TomTom. (And an insurance company, and some I don't recognize).

[efusco]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(nerfer @ Feb 14 2007, 10:23 AM) [snapback]390180[/snapback]</div>

I'm not saying this study is suspect, but it should be noted that it was underwritten in part by TomTom. (And an insurance company, and some I don't recognize).

[/b]

I'll say that that make the study a bit suspect...just as drug company sponsored studies are suspect. But still, it's provides an interesting landmark for an independent research project to look at. Consumer Union or a united insurance research group should duplicate the study using similar methods to try to confirm or refute the findings here.

In any case it certainly challenges the assumption that the nav system makes the car more unsafe.

[Oxo]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Feb 14 2007, 10:28 AM) [snapback]390152[/snapback]</div>

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070214/nyw088.html?.v=90

Key findings:
* The use of a satellite navigation device improves the driver's behavior
[/b]

These results are so favourable to a Nav system that I seemed to smell one of more sponsors of the research having a commercial interest, especially TomTom. So I read the article and sure enough sponsors include TomTom and possibly other sellers.

Not that I have any other reason to doubt the findings but I'd prefer to read about research that is totally independent of any financial interest in the product.

[efusco]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Oxo @ Feb 14 2007, 10:31 AM) [snapback]390185[/snapback]</div>

These results are so favourable to a Nav system that I seemed to smell one of more sponsors of the research having a commercial interest, especially TomTom. So I read the article and sure enough sponsors include TomTom and possibly other sellers.

Not that I have any other reason to doubt the findings but I'd prefer to read about research that is totally independent of any financial interest in the product.
[/b]

see my post just before yours

[mikepaul]

That damage-is-less thing must be from a place with no dirt roads. I took the 'quick' route home from a joyride and found the selected roads had CANYONS in them, not just potholes. It's been a long time since I used NAV that way around here. Just not safe for the car...

[Tideland Prius]

There is some truth in that. Actually, I just agree with what efusco posted above in his first post before adding "TomTom" in it.

I have a TomTom and while its mapping software is good most of the time, there are some discrepancies. TT in NA uses TeleAtlas. Most people swear by Navteq when it comes to mapping NA and thus claim Garmin to be the better product (strictly in terms of mapping). There are ways to check (e.g. using your nav and then asking Google or Yahoo Maps to do the same route and see if they're identical). More often than none, the Garmin and Google/Yahoo Maps match but the TT doesn't. It's not that it's a bad route or that much longer but it's still not the best route that the other two sources have provided.

[liverbomb88@yahoo.com]

I have to say, the voice command feature of my wife's new Prius makes her navi much safer to use than my Nuvi. I find myself distracted trying to look at the Nuvi screen to get it to do what I want it to do, even for something as easy as "go home." It doesn't help either to have the Nuvi lose suction and fall off, only to have me try to catch it while driving.

[creamer]

Call me skeptical, but this just doesn't make sense.

Reduction of mileage
The research proved that the amount of actual distance driven when using a TomTom satellite navigation solution is reduced by 16%. Time spent traveling is reduced by 18%. Because fewer miles are driven, fuel is saved, which is beneficial for both the car driver and the environment.[/b]

I note that they didn't add the "unknown area" clause to this one, so it must work universally. In other words: if i get a TomTom, my office will move two miles closer to my house?

Reduction in frequency of insurance claims
The research proves that lease drivers who do NOT have satellite navigation make 12% more damage claims than those who do have satellite navigation.[/b]

Looks to me like cherry-picking the test subjects. Car aficionados often get NAV systems. Car aficionados also tend to take better care of their cars -- thus, fewer claims. The NAV system is not necessarily the cause of the reduction; it seems more plausible that there's a correlation between NAV owners and conscientious drivers in the first place.

But my favorite:

Improvement of driving behavior
...What is also shown is that driving behavior has improved, with more than 50% fewer inappropriate actions, such as ignoring traffic signs.[/b]

In other words: half of "inappropriate actions" on the roads are caused by a lack of NAV systems.

Uh huh.

[Bob Allen]

I agree with Snooze Button....the study is ridiculous. There are too many variables involved to isolate having a Nav system as the accident claims preventative agent. There are many different types of GPS installations; how would you organize the data to support this claim? I think ditzing with a GPS while driving is as likely to cause an accident as prevent one. What about the erratic database errors that folks have mentioned on this chat line, where the Nav directs the driver to make a left turn off the edge of an overpass, or to continue straight across a corn field?