geography

[Lenny-bun]

Am I unusual in that I don't know the roads well in the 10 mile radius where I live? I should explain, I moved here 4 years ago, started driving 3 years ago and most driving I have done since then has been with a purpose; such as to go to work, to visit people, for business and so on. I just don't bibble off round the local area much and tend towards the west since that's where work and family are. Well, my pending IAM test is being set to the east of where I live and the examiner sounded a little concerned when I said I had no idea where the liason point was but was sure I could find it. I'm not bothered if I don't know a place because I think it sharpens your awareness anyway and I'm pretty competent about finding my way around - I do this a lot on business jaunts. Does everyone else have an in-depth knowledge of their local area? Am I weird?!

[Darren]

No, I wouldnt say so.....I lived down south for 6 years. I moved there for work and never really ever got to know the local roads.The reality is that people never really, these days, drive roads that they don't need to. Most people drive through necessity. Such as dropping the kids, going to work etc. Driving these days tends to be a less "pleasurable" experience and more a "need to" to perform a function.

I've recently moved back to Wigan, my home town after a good job move and promotion and I can't wait to start getting to grips with the old country roads. The reality is, broadening your horizons might involve a reckie with a map, then a few good drives without it......and maybe a good co-driver.

[Gareth]

most driving I have done since then has been with a purpose

I'm sure that will change now you've got an MX5 - after all, what would be the point in having such a wonderfully enjoyable car if you don't go out and drive it just for fun

The reality is, broadening your horizons might involve a reckie with a map, then a few good drives without it......and maybe a good co-driver.

I'm firmly of the opinion that driving can be much more enjoyable when there is someone available to navigate. Failing that I've found that certain Sat Nav's can be a good substitute.

[nuster100]

I must amit, since starting my ROSPA training, my observer has taken me down pleanty of roads that I didnt know existed.

I found my tomtom sat nav tends to shy away from the B roads though and go for the major roads.

Jay

[Gareth]

I found my tomtom sat nav tends to shy away from the B roads though and go for the major roads.

Perhaps I should have said more ... I use a Garmin unit that allows me to precisely define a route I want to follow through the judicious use of via-points.

Some Garmin units allow routes to be created on a PC, where it is remarkably easy to drag the route line wherever you want it to go, and then to download them to the unit. I know of only a few that allow this, and these include the original Quest and the GPSMAP 60/76 Cx/CSX units, although they are a bit too pricey for some.

I use Garmin software on a PDA and am unable to download routes from my PC to it, but having a decent sized screen on the PDA means that it reasonably easy to create the routes I want directly on it, although it is rather more time consuming than if I could use a PC instead.

As I said above, not all Garmin Sat Nav's allow this; the cheaper ones are more like many of the Tom Tom units in that they have limited or no facilities for complex routing. It's really one of those areas where you don't know what you want before you've used one and found out how useful it can be.

[ScoobyChris]

Some Garmin units allow routes to be created on a PC

Any idea what software you can use to do that? I have MS MapPoint 2006 which lets you do a route using via-points but it's a lot of work for something that should be relatively easy! I must get me one of these sat nav thingummyjigs!

Chris

[Gareth]

Some Garmin units allow routes to be created on a PC

Any idea what software you can use to do that?

When you buy suitable Garmin hardware, the software comes free, and in fact updates can be freely downloaded from the support section of their website. In this case, the software in question is called MapSource.

The mapping data is tied (locked) to their hardware, so the mapping software is useless on its own.

[waremark]

I don't think Lynette is at all weird - I think many people tend always to use the same routes into and out of their areas.

I am amazed the examiner was concerned. During my test quite some way from home I don't think I drove on any roads I knew.

Lenny, best of luck with your test!

[Lenny-bun]

Thanks for all the advice and comments here. I've been and checked out the rendevous point and to be honest, it doesn't seem too difficult to reach. I think it will probably be good on the day to not know the roads really well!

[nuster100]

remember, even if you know the roads, you need to be reading them instead of working from memory.

I beleive people tend to slip up more on roads they know. (I'm sure someone can provide figures)

Jay