Review
There are, of course, good reasons for this: one is that I never plan anything in advance and the other is that my map reading skills are less than useful due to a prolonged absence from geography lessons at school.
In fact, the only real people who can determine the value of satnav are you, the readers.
So what do you think about a system that can constantly monitor the traffic as you travel from A to B and re-route you if there is an incident or major congestion on your journey?
Our long-term Toyota Corolla Verso comes fitted with Toyota's Electronic Traffic Avoidance (ETA) system.
It provides the driver with live traffic information which is fed into the satellite navigation system, enabling the car to not only warn the driver of a traffic problem, but also to plot a way around jams or snarl-ups.
When a driver is following a route using the car's satellite navigation system, ETA will automatically offer an 'avoid traffic' option and work out a new route around the traffic.
If the driver is not using the satellite navigation when the traffic warning is received, plotting a destination into the navigation system - while obeying the rules of the road - will trigger the 'avoid traffic' function and aforementioned stress free re-routing will commence.
Sounds great, doesn't it? On paper, I would say wholeheartedly that this system sounds brilliant. However, the fact of the matter is that Toyota's ETA system causes more problems than it solves.
During a drive from Peterborough to Stansted Airport, this system informed me continuously that there was a problem on my route.
I didn't re-route because I didn't know how to and I got to my destination all the same without a hitch.
So it seems that the system is ill equipped to deal with busy rush hour traffic on major routes. Fellow hacks have dubbed the system 'panicky' and I would have to say I agree with them.
