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Darren
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Joined: 11/07/2002 14:36:40
Posts: 23848
Location: Hampshire, UK
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 Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 9:38 am Post subject: Is GPS a Kid Killer? |
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 No it's not April although you may wonder having read the headline grabbing results of a report from Dutch research organisation Stichting Onderzoek Navigatiesystemen. They claim that poor routing on devices is putting more cars in the path of children in school and residential zones in unfamiliar areas.
They compared 13 different 'telephone navigators' and their route plotting algorithms to see which took into consideration the avoidance of school and residential areas. Of all the devices tested, apparently only one, Nav4All (a Dutch application), was able to calculate a route that avoided these areas.
Stichting Onderzoek Navigatiesystemen has no apparent connections with Nav4All but it is important to point out that Holland has many residential areas where pedestrians have right of way and where cars should only be used for access. Navigation systems that use such areas as viable through routes can cause problems and may not in fact reflect accurate transit times but quite how they can be blamed as the cause of increased traffic accidents and casualty rates isn't explained.
Read the full report here.
Personally this sounds like an attention grabbing load of guff in the vein of 4x4's that kill the planet, but what do you all think?
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Darren Griffin |
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Skippy
Pocket GPS Verifier
Joined: 24/06/2003 00:22:12
Posts: 2946
Location: Escaped to the Antipodies! 36.83°S 174.75°E
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| Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 10:58 am Post subject: Re: Is GPS a Kid Killer? |
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| Darren wrote: | | Of all the devices tested, apparently only one, Nav4All (a Dutch application), was able to calculate a route that avoided these areas. |
I notice that they didn't test any Garmin units. So it looks like I won't be murdering any children then! 
| Darren wrote: | | Stichting Onderzoek Navigatiesystemen has no apparent connections with Nav4All |
Hmmmm, that's what I was wondering too.... 
The other thing that bugs me is that they don't state the test methodology used or the routes driven (or if they actually drove the routes!). Maybe you could challenge them to disclose how they did the testing in the interests of balanced reporting.
Perhaps they just had a look to see if there was an option to "Avoid killing children" or perhaps "Avoid residential roads" and if the nav system didn't have one then it was condemned as an device which incited us to attack children with our lethal weapons?
As we all know, the fastest route between two points more than a few miles apart is almost always via the main roads. Also, the road network has been around a lot longer than sat nav systems and they typically don't layout roads in such a way that a minor residential road could be used as a cut-through to by-pass a longer main road. Where this was done, the residential road has generally been blocked off because it became too much of a rat run.
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Darren
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Joined: 11/07/2002 14:36:40
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Location: Hampshire, UK
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| Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 2:23 pm Post subject: |
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Well possibly yes, but the actual cause is the driver, not the navigation system.
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Darren Griffin |
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GPS_fan
Pocket GPS Moderator
Joined: Jan 04, 2007
Posts: 2789
Location: Hampshire, UK
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| Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 2:37 pm Post subject: |
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I agree with Darren.
I'm possibly in a small minority, but I always try to drive as though I know where I am - even when I'm completely lost - you can always turn around and come back if you miss a turning and there's no excuse for not being aware of your surroundings
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Andy
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alix776
Pocket GPS Moderator
Joined: 03/05/2003 14:45:49
Posts: 3999
Location: leyland lancs ENGLAND
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| Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 11:57 pm Post subject: |
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therell most likely be one within the next 2 weeks that will say the opposite of that report 
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currently using aponia truck navigation on windows phone. Good bye IOS don't let the door hit you on the way out .
Oh the joys of being a courier.
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Bartmanekul
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Joined: Jul 06, 2006
Posts: 23
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| Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 12:56 pm Post subject: |
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This has just come to my attention, after looking at the nav4all site.
I have to say, that I strongly think its linked to nav4all. I did a whois, and both come up with Verio inc.
Coincidence? Im not sure. However, after using nav4all, its pretty crap. And I refuse to beleive that it passed all those tests.
Theres even typos in the report for goodness sake.
I have asked them for information on the tests, but I bet I wont get any.
Too many alarm bells ringing if you ask me. |
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