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From: Roland Perry on 26 Dec 2009 06:42 In message <o7rbj51queoufagb4nsc957gaa3be516jm(a)4ax.com>, at 11:09:02 on Sat, 26 Dec 2009, JamesMartin(a)hgvu.com.invalid remarked: >I wonder how many satnav's had their owners running round in circles >when the bridges went down Cockermouth and Workington the other >week and are still sending their owners on wild goose chases ! . Very few, I should think, as people know there's a big problem there. However, a satnav is good to decide what's the best "way round" an obstacle like that. -- Roland Perry
From: Cynic on 26 Dec 2009 06:55 On Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:52:52 -0000, Conor <conor(a)gmx.co.uk> wrote: >As a lorry driver, I was never unaware of low bridges. Even when driving >down motorways when pulling a 16'2" and knowing they were all above that >height, I'd still think some looked damned low. > >I would expect a bus driver to be equally aware of them. How aware we each are of various things around us is a product of our individual experiences. The brain has a mechanism that causes us to learn what of the many things that impinge on our senses are important, and which are not. In order to avoid being overwhelmed with data, our visual input goes through a pre-filter that has been programmed according to what our individual experiences have taught us is and is not important. That filter removes all the unimportant stuff before presenting what we see to the processing part of our brain. A car driver will have learned that the presence of a bridge up ahead is unimportant. It does not present a potential hazard to the car driver. When that driver changes to driving a high vehicle, the pre-filter must be reprogrammed - but only experience will do that (although the "experience" may also be an imaginary experience). If the driver does not encounter low bridges whilst driving the high vehicle, the reprogramming of the filter may well not take place. I have never been trained on high vehicles. Do the instructors do any bridge training work? Suich as *frequently* directing the new driver to go along roads that have bridges, and getting the trainee driver into the habit of looking at the height of those bridges? It requires several experiences before the brain will reprogram a filter (unless the experience is particularly significant, such as having a concrete block fall from a bridge in front of you, or shearing off the roof of your bus on a bridge). I suspect that that particular driver will now be far more aware of bridges than you are! -- Cynic
From: Ophelia on 26 Dec 2009 06:51 "Cynic" <cynic_999(a)yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message news:soqbj5leltn5iue8srs2osqsen2o91crss(a)4ax.com... > On Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:25:09 +0000, johannes > <johs(a)siz82442582548524542efitter.com> wrote: > >>> No I've never been a professional driver and nor do I want to be. >>> I love driving, thanks to all the gadgets in my car. >>> Sat Nav is great and I'm sure that in the future there will be a way of >>> connecting it so the car drives itself to the destination with the >>> driver >>> only having to intervene now and again, rather like a autopilot on a >>> plane. >>> As you dislike modernity so much why do you own a car when you have two >>> good >>> legs? > >>I prefer to 'understand' the route rather than being passively directed to >>the destination. > > Why? If it's a destination that you will not be visiting again, what > does it matter so long as you get there and back without a hitch? Would a a person giving directions be animated?
From: Ophelia on 26 Dec 2009 06:51 <James Martin(a)hgvu.com> wrote in message news:muqbj5ld1pok3blrrf773a013t0logk4bm(a)4ax.com... > On Fri, 25 Dec 2009 23:08:39 +0000, johannes > <johs(a)siz82442582548524542efitter.com> wrote: > >> >> >>Conor wrote: >>> >>> In article <4B352FD2.8E5A447C(a)siz82442582548524542efitter.com>, johannes >>> says... >>> > >>> > Conor wrote: >>> > > >>> > > In article <4B34E4D8.EDA47A4(a)siz82442582548524542efitter.com>, >>> > > johannes >>> > > says... >>> > > >>> > > > So far my system has worked well. Google maps gives the logical >>> > > > route and >>> > > > Google Earth provides the particular landmarks to look out for. >>> > > >>> > > So when you're driving through say London from one side to the >>> > > other, do >>> > > you stop after every turn and then every few hundred yards or do you >>> > > read the instructions as you're driving? >>> > >>> > If driving London from one side to the other, I would probably use M25 >>> > for >>> > a large part, or major trunk roads planned in advance from home. >>> > Detailed >>> > directions isn't really necessary until you get closer to your >>> > destination. >>> > Only then I begin to look out for landmarks and possibly stop to >>> > consult >>> > the printouts. >>> >>> Would you now like to answer the question? >> >>As indicated, I don't need to stop every few hundred yards. And I don't >>read >>the instructions as I am driving. > Give up Johannes you will never win with these gadget freaks even if > their satnav's where taking them 200 miles from where they wanted to > go they would still be proclaiming they where bloody marvelous. Well, since you tried one once and didn't like it, you are hardly in a position to judge.
From: Ophelia on 26 Dec 2009 06:53
"mechanic" <mechanic(a)example.net> wrote in message news:50er91e98s2e.dlg(a)example9876.com... > On Sat, 26 Dec 2009 10:59:01 GMT, James wrote: > >> On Fri, 25 Dec 2009 23:08:39 +0000, johannes >> <johs(a)siz82442582548524542efitter.com> wrote: > >>... > >>> As indicated, I don't need to stop every few hundred yards. And I >>> don't read the instructions as I am driving. >> Give up Johannes you will never win with these gadget freaks even if >> their satnav's where taking them 200 miles from where they wanted to >> go they would still be proclaiming they where bloody marvelous. > > These map-reader/memorise the route nutters might like to consider > the following: driving up the A1 a week or so ago late at night > there were road closures for maintenance/ resurfacing and traffic > was diverted off the A1 onto the lanes of North Yorkshire with no > diversion signs or other indications of ways round the obstruction. > If one had no local geographic knowledge of the local towns and > their relative positions, and no maps in the car, what then? > > Nightmare! Imagine driving behind James in such a scenario... nightmare indeed! |