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- The cost of motoring offences
- Avoiding the cowboys
- Which type of driver are you?
- Would you pass your test now?
- What to do in the event of a car breakdown
- It's the law - motoring do's and don'ts
- How to replace a tyre
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- How to get a good deal on a car
- What do I do if my windscreen is frozen?
- Driving with satellite navigation
- 10 motoring must-follows on Twitter
- How to push a vehicle safely
- Travelling with pets
- Five common breakdown problems
- Your breakdown cover renewal
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- Fifty years of the seatbelt
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- What to look for when choosing a breakdown cover provider
- Driving in Europe
- Summer Drivetime Magazine
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Route Planner
Sat nav safety
Sat navs should make driving from A to B a whole lot simpler but, as their popularity increases, so do the dangers associated with using them. Who hasn’t heard stories of cars being sent the wrong way round a one-way system? With the right approach to sat nav use, however, you can arrive at your destination incident-free.
Before you set off
Like regular maps, sat navs get out of date. New roads, bridges and roundabouts are being built all the time. Download map updates regularly and keep an up-to-date paper map in the car as backup.
Distracted driving causes accidents, so decide your route beforehand and minimise fiddling with your sat nav while driving. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) recommends programming your sat nav before you even get in the car, and positioning it in a sensible place that’s in your line of vision but not where it creates a blind spot. Set it to give detailed spoken, rather than just visual, instructions, too.
On the road
You’d be surprised how many people throw common sense to the wind and blindly follow the sat nav’s instructions into a pensioner’s bungalow! Use common sense and don’t assume the sat nav knows best. If you think the road looks too narrow or the bridge too low, it probably is. You are the one driving and what you see must take priority over what the sat nav says. If you have any doubts about the route you’re taking, pull over and refer to a paper map.
When you arrive
Thieves like shiny sat navs as much as you do, so detach your sat nav and take it with you rather than stashing it in the glove box. Remember: thieves are wise to mounts or suction cup marks, too.
Finally
For more tips on driver safety, check out Green Flag’s safety advice on using mobile phones while driving.
Also, be sure you are covered in the event of a breakdown: contact Green Flag for a breakdown cover quote.
