Displaying upcoming passing lanes on the Garmin GPS

 

My wife and I were driving to Vancouver, some areas have very long stretches without a passing lane. We've come across a few instances where someone coming towards us took a big chance in passing and nearly collided with us doing so. My wife asked me why Garmin does not add a feature that would display upcoming passing lanes along our chosen route, this would undoubtedly be a great feature to have and would likely save lives. I think it's a great idea, I am pretty sure that the data is already available and that Garmin could (if they wanted) add this feature to their GPS. They certainly would be the first to do so and perhaps increase their sales at the same time.
What are your thoughts on that?

--
RogerLL

Great idea but my current experience with Garmin >>>

makes me believe they would take you 5 miles off your path, then put you back on the same road headed the wrong way, then tell you to make the first u-turn just to get you to the passing lane.

--
"You can't get there from here"

There's also the question of direction...

...in that you'd want to be informed of passing lanes for the direction in which you are traveling. My TomTom can differentiate between, say, Highway 401 eastbound and 401 westbound (where the roadways are separated by a significant distance), but it does not do the same for two-lane highways (which is where passing panes are significant).

I understand

what you are saying but I'm not sure it is really practical since a passing lane can really change with the whim of a local govt and a line painting truck.

--
Bill 1450LMT C550 ETrex Legend ETrex Summit A computer beat me at chess once. But it was no match at kick boxing.

POI

This could be done using a POI file, if we have the location info.

Living

Living in the area being discussed here I have to ask, isn't there a road sign a mile or 2 before any passing lane, announcing the fact that the lane is ahead? Doesn't that serve the same purpose as having the information built into the map data or having a custom POI file?

I'm inclined to think that the POI file maybe the better way to go but it would seem to be a bear of a file to build for any large area of the country.

If this kind of data was available, I'd vote for some way of displaying how long the passing lane was. In some cases these lanes are so short that it's almost impossible for one vehicle to get past another before the lane ends. Not much help if there are 20 cars backed up behind a loaded logging truck.

--
Nuvi 350, 760, 1695LM, 3790LMT, 2460LMT, 3597LMTHD, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, DriveSmart 61, Garmin Drive 52, Garmin Backup Camera 40 and TomTom XXL540s.

Like a JCV

Garmin could have a file similar to our Junction Views. Of course with a new map update, we 1490 owners would lose it.

--
1490LMT 1450LMT 295w

Passing in Canada

We used to take family vacations at lake Nipissing, north of Toronto. I was always impressed by the wide shoulders of the two lane highways and the way drivers would almost always move over onto the shoulder to let people pass. Do they not have that on the western Canadian provinces or was your experience in the U. S.?

There aren't many passing lanes around here. The only areas I've seen them in the U. S. it was in mountain areas.

not many

JimD1 wrote:

There aren't many passing lanes around here. The only areas I've seen them in the U. S. it was in mountain areas.

US1 from Miami to Key West has some.

--
Garmin 38 - Magellan Gold - Garmin Yellow eTrex - Nuvi 260 - Nuvi 2460LMT - Google Nexus 7 - Toyota Entune NAV

They do that in Texas too >>>

JimD1 wrote:

We used to take family vacations at lake Nipissing, north of Toronto. I was always impressed by the wide shoulders of the two lane highways and the way drivers would almost always move over onto the shoulder to let people pass. Do they not have that on the western Canadian provinces or was your experience in the U. S.?

There aren't many passing lanes around here. The only areas I've seen them in the U. S. it was in mountain areas.

first time I saw it happen I thought the guy had a blow out or something...me being from the Northeast and all where they just plod along like they own the road smile

--
"You can't get there from here"

I don't think Garmin will do that due to liability

What will happen people look at the gps and saw passing lane and the local changed not to? I don't think Garmin or anyone will ever do that.

Yes, they do

JimD1 wrote:

We used to take family vacations at lake Nipissing, north of Toronto. I was always impressed by the wide shoulders of the two lane highways and the way drivers would almost always move over onto the shoulder to let people pass. Do they not have that on the western Canadian provinces or was your experience in the U. S.?

There aren't many passing lanes around here. The only areas I've seen them in the U. S. it was in mountain areas.

In Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta I had numerous drivers pull over into the "Safety" lane to allow me to pass when cars were coming in the other direction or there was a No Passing Zone. It's kind of neat - this can be done without either driver slowing down.

--
Metricman DriveSmart 76 Williamsburg, VA

Ontario Highways

Living in Ontario I know the issue waiting for a passing lane. I will rarely pass using an oncoming passing lane, and only if visibility is really good. In parts of Northern Ontario it can be really tedious driving on a twisty part of the TCH behind a slow vehicle. They are slowly converting the part of 11/17 between Nipigon and Thunder Bay to 4 lanes, since that is the only highway across Canada in that area.

I have not noticed as many wide shoulders in Ontario as I remember in the past. I find those dangerous, since when the wide shoulder ends the drivers get very little notice. They have definitely added more passing lanes on the TCH.

Back to the OP's question, I wonder if the map data from Navteq would have passing lanes in it.

passing lane or single broken yellow lines?

t923347 wrote:

Living in the area being discussed here I have to ask, isn't there a road sign a mile or 2 before any passing lane, announcing the fact that the lane is ahead? Doesn't that serve the same purpose as having the information built into the map data or having a custom POI file?

People typically don't worry about cars coming from another direction when using passing lanes, it is just an extra short traffic lane when high probability of slow traffic presents.

I think RogerLL was talking about single broken yellow lines which divide traffic of different directions but also allow passing over slower traffic onto opposite direction traffic lane when condition is safe.

And, yes, typically, there are informational signs miles ahead telling drivers when the passing lanes start and end. But, it all come down to keeping eyes on the roads and signs, not the GPS screen. It is not like flying an aircraft that you can have instruments only driving.

Ok....

Ok....

That's not

cameotabby wrote:

I think RogerLL was talking about single broken yellow lines which divide traffic of different directions but also allow passing over slower traffic onto opposite direction traffic lane when condition is safe.

That's not a passing lane, that's a normal 2 lane highway which the Nuvi has millions of miles of.

A passing lane is when an extra lane is provided on a 2 lane highway for a specific distance, usually in one direction but sometimes in both. Where this lane is present, slower traffic "should" move to the right and allow faster moving vehicles to pass in the provided left passing lane.

--
Nuvi 350, 760, 1695LM, 3790LMT, 2460LMT, 3597LMTHD, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, DriveSmart 61, Garmin Drive 52, Garmin Backup Camera 40 and TomTom XXL540s.

Yes

I first saw this in Texas, and the first time I thought the car in front of me had engine trouble or something, until I realized that there were way too many cars pulling off to the shoulder to all have problems! LOL! Love the polite southerners!!

--
Nuvi 765T, Nuvi 2350LMT

you got it

t923347 wrote:

A passing lane is when an extra lane is provided on a 2 lane highway for a specific distance, usually in one direction but sometimes in both. Where this lane is present, slower traffic "should" move to the right and allow faster moving vehicles to pass in the provided left passing lane.

I believe this is what the OP meant by passing lane and not whether it was safe to pass on a two lane Hwy.

That is how they have it on US1 and there are no shoulders to be polite, if you are behind slow poke you are stuck.

http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/4064-S.pdf

--
Garmin 38 - Magellan Gold - Garmin Yellow eTrex - Nuvi 260 - Nuvi 2460LMT - Google Nexus 7 - Toyota Entune NAV

Lawyers aside

Lawers aside it is still the resonsibility of the driver to see if they can pass safely regardless if there is a passing lane or not. Just because a gps
says you can pass does not mean you can or that its safe to do so. Then again there are many posts on this site regardiing the mentally challenged who are too much like the AllState mayhem commercial

I Think You Missed The Point

gus2259 wrote:

Just because a gps
says you can pass does not mean you can or that its safe to do so.

I don't believe the OP was suggesting that the GPS should tell you when to pass. It would be telling you when you would have the next opportunity to pass safely in a passing lane.

One could argue that it would enhance safety by giving the driver some idea of when that might happen, instead of letting him/her get more and more impatient until they do something stupid.

You got it

t923347 wrote:
cameotabby wrote:

I think RogerLL was talking about single broken yellow lines which divide traffic of different directions but also allow passing over slower traffic onto opposite direction traffic lane when condition is safe.

That's not a passing lane, that's a normal 2 lane highway which the Nuvi has millions of miles of.

A passing lane is when an extra lane is provided on a 2 lane highway for a specific distance, usually in one direction but sometimes in both. Where this lane is present, slower traffic "should" move to the right and allow faster moving vehicles to pass in the provided left passing lane.

Thank you, that is exactly what I meant.

--
RogerLL

You nailed it

VersatileGuy wrote:
gus2259 wrote:

Just because a gps
says you can pass does not mean you can or that its safe to do so.

I don't believe the OP was suggesting that the GPS should tell you when to pass. It would be telling you when you would have the next opportunity to pass safely in a passing lane.

One could argue that it would enhance safety by giving the driver some idea of when that might happen, instead of letting him/her get more and more impatient until they do something stupid.

Bravo, this is exactly what the advantage would be if such suggestion was adopted.

Thank you

--
RogerLL

I agree. That would be an

I agree. That would be an awesome enhancement.

Payson AZ Highway

I have traveled this many times going east. From Mesa AZ to I40 I take the Bush Highway to the Payson Highway to 377 to I40.
This highland rout has many passing zones that are about 1 mile long. Since this has not changed in the last 5 years I think Garmin could put it on their GPS system.

Now that

Now that we have defined what a passing lane is, I'm curious as to how these could be shown on the map screen.

There are many thousands of miles of multi lane highways shown on the Nuvi and not one mile of them shows the lanes on the map screen. On a divided highway, you may get the 2 sides displayed but not the individual lanes. Given that, how would a passing lane be shown on a 2 lane road.

About the only place a lane is pointed out, that I can think of, is in the lane assist area (upper left corner of the map screen) or in a junction view, but in both those cases the feature is being used to tell you what lane to be in to make your next turn or maneuver. Using a passing lane doesn't meet that criteria for no other reason than the GPS doesn't know whether you should be one of those folks that needs to stay in the right(slower) lane or really want to get past that logging truck and need to be in the left (passing) lane.

I suppose one way would be to pop up a balloon box like with a speed or red light camera warning, to notify you of a passing lane ahead, but if the Nuvi did provide this information how far from the passing lane do you want to know about it? Doesn't the road sign tell you the same information without taking your eyes off the road?

We travel on many roads in the Pacific northwest and in Arizona. There are many passing lanes used on 2 lane highways in both areas and I can't recall any that don't make themselves known by at least one sign at at least one mile from the start of the actual lane. That pretty much works for us.

--
Nuvi 350, 760, 1695LM, 3790LMT, 2460LMT, 3597LMTHD, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, DriveSmart 61, Garmin Drive 52, Garmin Backup Camera 40 and TomTom XXL540s.

Primarily for uphill sections

I've seen them primarily along uphill sections of a two lane road. Unless this info is readily available not sure I see any great advantage for the amount of effort needed to put it together.

If that be the intent

if that was what he meant then I would agree it would be a good feature. I read it the other way due to all the stories you hear and read about where they do some really dumb things. Still if some drive like my wife they will still simmer until they get a chance to pass. ( good thing she doesn't read this forum LOL)

Great Idea

RogerLL wrote:

My wife and I were driving to Vancouver, some areas have very long stretches without a passing lane. We've come across a few instances where someone coming towards us took a big chance in passing and nearly collided with us doing so. My wife asked me why Garmin does not add a feature that would display upcoming passing lanes along our chosen route, this would undoubtedly be a great feature to have and would likely save lives. I think it's a great idea, I am pretty sure that the data is already available and that Garmin could (if they wanted) add this feature to their GPS. They certainly would be the first to do so and perhaps increase their sales at the same time.
What are your thoughts on that?

I like the idea of this, although I'm not sure about how many lives would be saved/lost. Many people have a tendency to rely on the GPS too much rather than common sense, and may say "Well, my GPS said I could pass..."

--
Streetpilot C340 Nuvi 2595 LMT

It's For Information, Not Instruction

shrifty wrote:

I like the idea of this, although I'm not sure about how many lives would be saved/lost. Many people have a tendency to rely on the GPS too much rather than common sense, and may say "Well, my GPS said I could pass..."

As mentioned earlier, the idea is not to have the GPS tell you "You can pass now". Rather, it would be to have the GPS let you know that "There is a passing lane 'x' km ahead" so you know how far it is before you can safely get past that $#@%! slowpoke at the front of the line.

This could actually be done with existing GPS capabilities if the POIs were named something like "Eastbound passing lane start". That would mostly take care of the directionality issue I mentioned above, but you would likely get proximity warnings for the other direction too.

The other issue is how far ahead the GPS would look. On my TomTom I can set POI warnings up to 9999 metres (10km, or ~6 miles) and choose "Warn only if POI is on route". If it did work that far in advance (I've never tried one that big) it would at least be some improvement over the road signs that normally say "Passing lane 2km ahead".

POI is the way to go on this

POI is the way to go on this type of thing.

Passing Lanes

I agree with sunsetrunner

As has been stated...

Most if not all have 1-3 signs miles before the passing lane. Why not focus on something else? People would really buy a Garmin based on it having passing lane info. ?

the more info, the more

the more info, the more confusing. I say road sign and road stripe are just fine, keep the Garmin inf useful not complicated

More Info

Pretty soon, someone will want to know where all the stop signs and yield signs are. Where do you stop at this.

--
3790LMT; 2595LMT; 3590LMT, 60LMTHD

I completely agree

VersatileGuy wrote:
shrifty wrote:

I like the idea of this, although I'm not sure about how many lives would be saved/lost. Many people have a tendency to rely on the GPS too much rather than common sense, and may say "Well, my GPS said I could pass..."

As mentioned earlier, the idea is not to have the GPS tell you "You can pass now". Rather, it would be to have the GPS let you know that "There is a passing lane 'x' km ahead" so you know how far it is before you can safely get past that $#@%! slowpoke at the front of the line.

This could actually be done with existing GPS capabilities if the POIs were named something like "Eastbound passing lane start". That would mostly take care of the directionality issue I mentioned above, but you would likely get proximity warnings for the other direction too.

The other issue is how far ahead the GPS would look. On my TomTom I can set POI warnings up to 9999 metres (10km, or ~6 miles) and choose "Warn only if POI is on route". If it did work that far in advance (I've never tried one that big) it would at least be some improvement over the road signs that normally say "Passing lane 2km ahead".

I agree that the GPS is informational, however I think many people use it as instructional which would not be a good thing. It would be nice to know ahead of time where the passing zones are. I've seen a number of them that give no warning, and by the time you realize it, the opportunity has, well, passed.

--
Streetpilot C340 Nuvi 2595 LMT

Sounds like my 780 and

Sounds like my 780 and 1490's ideas of routing!!

Passing Lanes

Passing Lanes,this is something Garmin can't do, without Navteq doing it first.

The below is a very basic explanation of a piece of Garmin hardware or any manufactures gps.

Garmin builds hardware that contains a gps receiver (GPSR),consisting of antenna, receiver-processors, and a very stable clock along with a display for providing location information to the user, among other parts and information collected.

Garmin also writes the firmware that links the above together, the software for the units user interface as well as the automatic address to address routes and the recalculation algorithms to keep you on course and all the bells and whistles your unit has within the user interface for your convenience and ease of use.

The map maker Navteq in Garmins case would have to chart the Passing lanes first, then add them to their maps and onboard database. Once Garmin buys the maps and databases their security routines are added and any tweaks that are needed to fit the needs of the different models they have.

So if you think Passing lanes are easy to add to the maps, well words just can't explain it, take the 11 minutes to watch and you will see why.
media player: http://video.pocketgpsworld.com/Navteq-Map-Making.wmv
Quicktime: http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/showmedia.php?src=http://video...

--
Using Android Based GPS.The above post and my sig reflects my own opinions, expressed for the purpose of informing or inspiring, not commanding. Naturally, you are free to reject or embrace whatever you read.

Legal risk

I would be willing to bet that even if Navteq were to add this info to the roads database, a GPS manufacturer might still not add such a feature because of the potential risk of lawsuit. We already see frequent reports of people who follow their GPS without actually looking at where they are going. There will be those who will try to pass without looking just because it says they can. And then try to sue somebody for their own stupidity.

Rather than passing lane info, I'd like to see

I'd like to see your GPS tell you when you are driving (not stopped) say 5mph below the speed limit in the left lane for more than two minutes and there's a lane available to your right to drive in. Of course if traffic is backed up, you need a simple way to push a button on the screen to turn it off for the next 1/2 hour, then it would reset back on.

I'm sure there's just as many if not more problems with this than with the passing lane idea, including traffic variability, etc... but man, wouldn't it be great for those asleep-at-the-wheel folks driving in the left lane who are not passing and should be driving in the right lane? A man can dream....

(Actually GPS is probably not the answer. Stiff law enforcement of this as is done in Germany would change driver behavior.)

--
Nuvi 760 (died 6/2013); Forerunner 305 bike/run; Inreach SE; MotionX Drive (iPhone)

Western passing lanes

I'm familiar with both areas. Passing lanes like those you are referring to aren't practical to build through the mountains. Many parts of the Transcanada would require huge amounts of blasting.

Of course, through the prairies they aren't needed, since you can see about 20 kms ahead of you for safe passing....lol.

I do like that "shoulder lane" though. So nice when a slow driver can simply pull to the right to allow others to pass.