Is it legal and safe to have a satnav stuck to the windscreen of the car?
SIR – If one takes the Highway Code literally, the rear-view mirror breaks the rule that the windscreen should be clear of all obstructions (report, January 6).
In France, all vehicles should by law have their licence and insurance document stuck to the windscreen, just as we once had our tax disc. David E Hockin
Portishead, Somerset
SIR – Greater Manchester Police say: “If you are stopped by the police and have a device that is deemed to be obscuring your view you may be prosecuted and face a £50 fine.”
I sometimes watch Traffic Cops on Channel 5. The chase cars always seem to have at least three devices stuck on the windscreen . Bruce Cochrane
Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire
SIR – I hope this is all sorted before we arrive for our next holiday to England.
We always mount our unit high up next to the rear-view mirror on the passenger side. Easy for the driver (me) to see, it isn’t in the way and the passenger (my wife) can easily make changes and adjustments. (It would be a bit awkward if she were to lean across me to reach the unit mounted where Greater Manchester Police recommend, low on the right).
This is important on the many occasions when Sir Billy Connolly tells me, in no uncertain terms, that I am not listening to him, again. Peter Bull
New Westminster, BC, Canada
SIR – I have always fixed my portable satnav in the centre-bottom position of my windscreen. I only need glance to view the information. Its screen measures 7×4 inches, so the image is clear and instantly recognisable.
Instruments incorporated into the dashboards, as is the case with many modern cars, are distracting because to read them one’s eyes have definitely to be taken off the road ahead. These screens are not very large and they do not display information clearly. In some cases this information is extensive, which means that several seconds may be needed to read it all.
We definitely need clearer regulation to guarantee road safety. David Hartridge
Groby, Leicestershire
SIR – The only safe place for a satnav is the dustbin, or at least the glove compartment. No one can concentrate on driving and check on a small screen where they are going. This is doubly so with mobile phone navigation. It would be at least incongruous for the use of a mobile in a car to be illegal, but to stare at a very small map legal.
If you have not planned your journey before setting off to drive on today’s well marked, well signposted roads, you should not be driving.
In many years of driving, in 20 countries, I have felt no need of a satnav, and have never got lost, which is more than many satnav users can claim. Keith Garner
Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire