ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 6, 1997 TAG: 9704070042
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: THE BOSTON GLOBE
The voice from your dashboard makes driving less brain-intensive, which one researcher dislikes.
New dashboard-mounted navigation devices that help drivers find the best routes to their destinations may cause more problems than they solve, especially for new drivers, a researcher suggests.
In their present form, the navigation aids give a driver oral instructions on how to get to a destination - for example, ``turn left at the next corner, 50 yards ahead.'' Earlier devices that used visual display screens were found too distracting to use while driving.
But Paul Jackson, a researcher with the Center for Transport Studies at Imperial College, London, found that even the newer systems may hamper the learning process about how to navigate.
Jackson's research showed that new drivers were confused by the instructions, which were often ambiguously worded and tended to make them feel overwhelmed with information.
The first year of driving, he said, is ``a risky period. That's when most accidents happen.'' Beginning drivers, he said, ``cannot cope with too much information while trying to control the car.''
The directions also confused many older drivers, who might benefit most from effective help in navigating complicated routes.
Jackson said these problems could be addressed by modifying the systems and perhaps restricting their use. For example, he suggested prohibiting their use by new drivers until they've been licensed for a year.
The electronic navigation aids generally use digitized street maps stored in a computer memory, combined with information about the car's position obtained from the Global Positioning Satellite system.
Some analysts and transportation officials have suggested that their widespread use could alleviate traffic congestion and reduce fuel use by directing drivers around overloaded routes and traffic tie-ups, and by encouraging use of more efficient routes that might not be as familiar to the driver.
But those benefits depend on people actually using the devices, and Jackson found that if people get information that is distracting, confusing or erroneous, they start to distrust the system and disregard its advice.
Jackson suggested more research on how to provide the information ``so that it doesn't interfere, but actually improves people's ability'' to find their way.
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB