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Comment by Crito | Hacker News Reader

> - Wrist GPS while driving

I recommend trying GPS while driving without any screen at all. Pull up navigation on your phone or stand-alone unit, then place it in the center console where you cannot see it. Let it give you directions only though TTS.

This is how I've been using GPS for years now, I find that I pay much more attention to the road and actually have fewer navigational mistakes (probably because I am paying more attention to the road).

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One of the features Apple has mentioned for its watch is its ability to use its little force feedback mechanism to make different pulses depending on whether you're supposed to turn left or right, so you don't actually have to look at the directions. It actually sounds like kind of a neat idea.

Definitely an interesting idea. I wonder if haptic feedback for GPS navigation could somehow be integrated into cars. The steering wheel might work.. except people are often pretty bad at keeping both hands on the wheel. Maybe in the seat.

Simple left/right indications are fine for walking, but not for driving. You need explicit lane guidance, or else you'll miss practically all your turns driving a new route.

Even if the GPS is accurate to a few feet, it doesn't know where the back of the line in the left turn lane is!

Agreed. To add to your point about fewer mistakes, it is sometimes difficult to correlate the picture on the screen with what you are seeing on the actual road, causing you to miss turns.

That's great when the route isn't intentionally confusing like in some cities. "Turn left in 1000 feet" when there is an intersection shaped like an asterisk is one example a ran into recently. I had to stop in the middle of the road (blocking traffic) and dig out my phone so I could see if I should slight left, turn 90 degrees left, or go through and slight left.

I find that the combination of distance updates and street name cover most of those cases, though there are indeed edge-cases where it doesn't work great.

Whenever I get into a taxi who is using a GPS unit, I get really scared. They seem to be new drivers who spend more time looking at the screen than the road, which is not good in Beijing.

But I have the feeling that Watch is not meant for driving situations :) It could be quite good while walking around a new city.

When driving in unknown territory (why else would you need a GPS) when the terrain is a bit more rugged a GPS can visually warn you at night of an upcoming curve and this can be a life-saver in countries where the roads are really bad.

> probably because I am paying more attention to the road

For me it was the fact that I wasn't trying to 'beat the system' and guess a better way.

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