http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-New ... 3186?f=rss

Unfortunately there's no blanket law for 'stupidity'...

Pratt! Got what he deserved, at least nobody else was involved or injured because of his stupidity.

Forget the fine, just make him wear an "I'm stupid and follow my satnav off cliffs" T-shirt and hat everyday for 3 months. I do remember Clarskon saying the SatNav in the BMW was rubbsh though lol

On a side note my pet hate is people with stick-on satnavs and they put the bloody things right in the middle of the windscreen. 1) thats illegal 2) you're not supposed to watch it like a bloody TV.

The Road Traffic Act’s Construction and Use regulations say:
"the satellite navigation unit must not be located anywhere within the sweep of the windscreen wipers or anywhere else that would cause obstruction to the clear vision of the driver"

....although I think there must a common sense approach where mounting satnavs low down close to the dash is ok. Mine is on the very bottom right corner of my window which I suppose is still technically in the 'sweep' area (just).

I hate that too.

which pretty much excludes the windscreen. Placing it all the way to the left or top middle of the screen would be more dangerous.


This is where I used to place my GPS unit. It meant minimal time spent not looking at the road. My current satnav is built into the dash and means I have to spend more time not looking at the road.

Mine's stuck right at the bottom in the middle. My line of sight through that is just bodywork, so it does not obstruct the view at all. It's the only position you can really safely look at, and it's where the vast majority of people I know put it.

I hate the ones that are right down low near the radio, because it takes your eyes off the road for a significant time if you actually look at it. On the screen, it's already in your field of vision and you barely have to refocus.

What I'd really like is a heads-up display, including automatic tracking of everything. Ideally, it should drive the car too.

Preferably not off a cliff...

....or just don't buy satnav at all and manage as drivers did in the 100 years before satnav was invented....use a map!

He was driving a BMW - therefore he is a cock - therefore HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

The number of times I've nearly crashed trying to navigate by map, no thanks.

Maps are great for route planning, although if I'm starting from home or the office I now use Google Maps rather than my out of date printed ones. However, for navigating around strange towns they're a nightmare. Even if you print off a route to follow, if you make one mistake you're completely stuffed. There's no way you can memorise 100 junctions in advance, and these days it's illegal to stop to read a map pretty much anywhere so you have to follow your progress on the move. Also illegal of course, but you're less likely to be caught.

I've spent nearly 20 years driving a van/car around various towns, and although my current satnav is far from perfect it's a huge improvement over maps. It also works out far cheaper to buy a new satnav every few years than a full set of A/Zs!

100 years ago, maps were fine. They're still fine if you have a co-pilot, but otherwise they're just incompatible with driving around modern towns. In between towns, I can manage perfectly fine with no maps just following the main routes and signposts.

Am I missing something, on most vehicles that would mean a satnav unit would be located in the very top left or right corner of the windscreen significantly increasing the time I don't look at the road. This is particularly dangerous as being a truck driver,I'm usually reading the sun, texting prostitutes, or watching violent rape porn on my laptop.

tbh you dont need to watch the satnav. Just listen to the directions!

Fail! He delivers cars for living, it wasn't his - therefore HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! you too

One word:

Knob

Whether it was his car or not he was still driving a BMW - therefore he still a cock.

Why? They are great cars to drive, at least the older models, I haven't driven the current 5 series, but the previous generation 5 series was a fantastic all rounder and my classic M535i was an incredible fun car to drive, all mechanical drive chain, but you could really throw it about without worries.

As to the sat nav, mine is located in the middle console, it is a little low. The BMW HUD system is good and the Audi/VW system of placing it in the middle of the instrument cluster is very good (the first Opel Omega one was also built into the instrument cluster as a colour LCD as well, and that was 1999/2000).

On the odd occasion where I borrow one, I always turn the volume down, I like to hear to hear the audio from the laptop properly.



You da man.