Could following your Satnav blindly be putting your life at risk? Car rental expert Fair Rent comments

As we succumb to the power of technology, leading car rental experts Fair Rent react to the latest news that ‘blindly’ obeying your satnav ‘could endanger lives’.

Our reliance on technology and gadgets has seen some comedic moments occurring, such as mindlessly stumbling into ponds and water features whilst updating your social media pages or colliding with a door or barrier because you were attempting to beat your high score on a mobile game on your smartphone. However, placing an almost hypnotic fixation on devices such as GPS and Satellite Navigation systems in your car could see you taking more than just a wrong turn on your next journey.

Following a survey carried out by the road safety charity ‘Brake’, it was discovered that an alarming 1 in 7 motorists admitted to carrying out illegal and unsafe manoeuvres whilst driving on the road, just in order to get back on track when being directed by their satnav devices. The charity made a stern point of the dangers of making bad judgements when operating a vehicle saying that these risks could most certainly lead to causing “a devastating crash”.

Understandably, it is often easily done when following the directions on your smartphone or TomTom, with many devices recalculating routes to avoid road works, traffic jams and other delays. Although these systems have improved so that fewer drivers find themselves in the middle of fields or forests, the connection is still made between machine and operator, with many of us relying far too much on the moment our devices tell us to make a U-turn. For many, simply keeping one eye on the map display of their satnav is distracting them from having full concentration of what is occurring ahead and around them, with 1 in 14 drivers admitting to having near misses because they were changing their radio or cd settings.

Calls for drivers to keep their eyes on the road as part of the Drive Smart campaign are being supported by local authorities, safety representatives and many other sectors within the motoring industry. Car rental experts in Chingford and Enfield, Fair Rent, also reacted to the findings, as they often do relating to relevant news and reports within their industry. A spokesperson for the company believes greater care should be made by motorists to ensure their safety and the safety of others on the roads:

“Combining good visuals of the road ahead whilst keeping a conscious ear on your satnav is the best way to effectively use your device to reach your destination. Like any other electronic device, if you feel you have to make any changes on the move, pull over to the side of the road when safe to do so and make the changes then. Don’t risk yourself or other motorists by executing illegal or dangerous manoeuvres on roads or especially motorways, or the results could be fatal.”