GPS Navigation Improves Traffic Safety — Believe It Or Not
As the accountants sometimes say, there are lies, damn lies and statistics. If you believe a set of numbers or not is completely up to you. But I found this report quite enlightening:
By Geoff Duncan
Staff Writer, Digital Trends NewsDo GPS systems improve traffic safety? A Dutch study finds that use of satellite navigation systems improves driving in unknown areas and reduces driver stress.
Despite some well-publicized instance where a few drivers have driven into construction zones, into buildings, and off roads because their GPS systems told them to, a new study (Dutch) from Dutch research institute TNO purports to find that the use of GPS satellite navigation systems actually improves driving and traffic safety. Read the rest of the Digital trends article here:
As Geoff carefully points out any study run by a company with a vested interest in the outcome must be looked at critically and claims, as always, taken with a grain of salt, but there are some very interesting and easily provable stats in this report that indicate in-car navigation actually can improve highway safety, no matter who paid for the writing.
One thing I can personally testify to is that driver time on the road and distances traveled absolutely will go down by 10 or moor percent as claimed by the study. One doesn’t need a rocket science degree to understand that a 10% reduction in driving will certainly result in equivalent savings on accidents. Nor to mention precious fuel, pollution reductions and other benefits derived from reducing miles driven.
The second thing I found interesting was insurance company data that showed a significant (12%) reduction in vehicle damage claims for drivers with GPS installed. This is insurance company data, not figures that the GPS vendors had anything to do with, so it’s pretty eye opening to me. What do you think?