If you have a car accident as a result of poor navigation should you blame your sat nav or the driver? Research suggests that sat navs are at fault, but I think that drivers need to take more responsibility for their actions.
So, someone’s collected insurance claims data suggesting sat navs are to blame for causing accidents.
It’s probably true to say that, though a sat nav is a useful aid, it can certainly be a distraction for any driver, especially if it’s not installed sensibly. But surely it isn’t as distracting as trying to read a map while on the move!
And while we have probably all been misled by our sat navs at some stage (they are far from foolproof in my experience), they are not in charge of the car – we are!
So when I read the claim from Confused.com that ‘sat navs have caused over £200 million worth of damage to drivers on UK roads as a result of accidents caused by misleading directions,’ it made me cross!
Surely the driver makes the decisions. It is us who must consider all the road conditions and not just follow a sat nav blindly like some robot, incapable of doing anything except reacting to ‘do a u-turn where possible’ or other such inane announcements.
In my view, the sat nav is a useful additional component in a car. But the most important component – and the one that should take both credit and blame for the outcomes of every driving manoeuvre – is the person behind the wheel.
Who or what is most responsible for accidents caused by misdirection?
The driver (84%, 234 Votes)
The sat nav (16%, 45 Votes)
Total Voters: 284
