BRAKE TAKES ANOTHER WRONG TURN
16 March 2007 - Association of British Drivers

Road safety charity BRAKE is claiming that in-car satellite navigation using on-screen maps distracts drivers and should be banned.

The claim, which also includes car stereos and hands-free mobile ''phones, is based on yet another ''survey'' of 1000 drivers.

ABD spokesman Nigel Humphries comments, ''We cannot base road safety on potentially loaded, unscientific surveys. Road users have to deal with many potential hazards and distractions every day. This ''ban everything'' mentality is not the way forward. Instead, we need to teach people to recognise potential dangers and how to deal with them. Countless drivers have been safely guided to an unfamiliar destination using satellite navigation, which is likely to have had an overall positive effect on road safety.''

It''s ironic that BRAKE also bemoans the catastrophic loss of traffic police, replaced by the unjustified proliferation of single-function speed cameras, which they have staunchly supported.

The focus on ''ban and enforce'' has stalled road safety. More road user education and training is needed to get road safety moving in the right direction.

www.abd.org.uk

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