Maps every time. Never needed a Sat Nav, never used a Sat Nav, and as an experiement a few years ago my mate and I went to a rally from the same starting point at the same time. I planned my route with a map while he used his Sat Nav. He's a faster rider than me but I arrived two hours before he did. He also travelled 60 miles further than I did.
Weirdoraptor In: Brough, E. Yorks
Posts: 2087
Karma:
If i get the chance a couple of days before a new journey i use google maps, get a print, then from a spot i know on the route follow it on street view. Then when i'm en-route there are landmarks/junctions etc. i can sort of recognise to keep me right.
There are other benefits as well,... i did this the other night and found a couple of pc plod hidey holes on the route i'm taking next!
as Weirdo said Google street view is great for recognizing junctions and knowing were to turn i often print them of, all so good for finding shop and car parks ect.
I love my Satnav. I think they’re an absolute god-send esp. getting to and out of London! But it can be a bit dodgy when it decides to fall off from the rev counter though! But I can read a map too but its not as convenient.
Sat Nav for me. I`ve no problem with map reading, but looking down at the tank when you`re trying to concentrate on the road is a bit dodgy. I`ve never had a problem with my sat nav and "Dorris" always gets me to where I`m going, even if she does send me up hill and down dale
With all the driving and riding I've done I know the country pretty well, so its just a quick look at the map before i set off and away we go. If I need to find a specific address I'll print it off before i go and pull over for a quick scan before setting off again.
I dont get there first time every time, but how many Satnavs get people lost now and then?
Im sure somebody can tell me, but i still dont know why satnavs are allowed on windscreens in cars. Im sure when i was learning, I was told that you cannot have anything obscuring your view within the wiper blade area. These do not just obscure the view, they take your eyes off the road. I also seem to remember from somewhere that this was an MOT failure? But I could be(and probably am) wrong.
I was following a purple line on the pavement last night whilst walking through Brum city centre, woul dhave gone right to the end of it until it was pointed out to me that it went up a lamp post !!!! Whats with that ???
everyone should use sat navs these days.
I don't believe that 2/3 of under-25's can't read maps, that's BS i think. Not only is it standard education in school but it's not exactly rocket science! It's a bloody map of roads, what more can the squigly lines be on the paper.
You could give a map to a 8 year old kid and he/she could work it out.
The trouble is with some of the numptys, they expect the road to actually be the same colour as it is on the map and also to have the road number written on it.
Maps for me, 100%. I can spend hours reading maps. Always pre-map out a journey on Google and check out Street View for tricky junctions.
Then carry maps in case my mental picture of the journey fails me. In (the other parts of) Europe, I always buy the Michelin 1:200,000 regional maps as I fill up. The detail is fab and the extra-scenic routes have a green line hugging the road. Never failed me yet.
Matt trust me sat nav is a big no no in a truck yes drivers do us them but thay dont do wieght limits hight restrictions and thay get you stuck down narrow roads. A mate of mine drives a coach and got stuck down a lane in devon cost his boss nealy £14,000 in damage to side of the coach and recovery fees
JP, for some truck drivers the satnav replaces the brain. The road I live on is very narrow at one end, with a T junction onto another single track road. The council have finally put up a 'not suitable for HGV' sign ant the entry end, and again just before it narrows. Yet we still average 1 a month who tries to get through. I keep having to walk down and watch them back, as they inevitably keep going until the truck is scraping the stone walls and mirrors are in the hedges above. . . . In the worst cases, the road has been closed (twice in 18 months) for hours while a tractor has been brought in to pull artics out backwards!!
I have had my class1 since ྕ, and it is OBVIOUS to anybody with half a brain that this road is wide enough for nothing lager than a luton van, yet they still try. Without exception the reason they give is 'Thats where the stanav told me to go'!!
I have to bite my tongue and send these morons on thier way!
I once had a porter who couldn't read a map. We ended up on a Pay & Display car park, down a dead end in Leatherhead, with a 60' artic. Needless to say both he and the map were swiftly ejected with enough bus fare to get home.
It has to be a map, but you have to be reading it yourself - just to make sure!
I like to google where im going write down the directions and take the relevant map with me. My friend just gave me a fab set of Touring maps for motorcyclists in Great britain,what a gift,waterproof and everything,lol.