We are all familiar with GPS devices. Satellite Navigation systems for vehicles are common and many cars have them fitted as standard. These devices use GPS technology to pinpoint your location. From here the device can direct you to a final destination via the most appropriate route or, in the case of some SatNavs, via a highly inappropriate route. But what are the wider uses of GPS technology and can it help save lives?

GPS SatNav for Emergency Vehicles

Of course it isn’t just ordinary people who can benefit from using GPS systems to help them with directions. Emergency service vehicles are just as likely to end up lost without some kind of navigational system. Driving in a familiar area is usually pretty easy, but many emergency service vehicles have to cover a wide geographical area, which makes it hard to know every single route. GPS navigation systems can help the driver make the journey in the fastest possible time, which could save lives.

Pin Pointing Locations with GPS Technology

GPS technology can also act as a tracking device. In films, secret agents use GPS technology to track their targets across all kinds of terrain. The hero may place a small device in the subject’s car and then follow him with the aid of a computer. It looks clever, but the technology is not that far removed from the kind of tracker app you use to find your iPhone or Android device.

Rescue in Remote Locations

Many modern cars are fitted with SatNavs as standard, but in the future our cars may also come with a GPS tracker device. This would help emergency services find our vehicle if we had a nasty accident and were unable to call for help. Imagine how useful a GPS tracker would be if you accidentally drove your new car off a precipice while negotiating a hairpin bend in the Alps. You might not be alive to greet your rescuers, but at least your grieving relatives would be able to mourn your loss instead of wondering what happened to you for months.

Cheaper Insurance

As well as assisting the emergency services, GPS tracker devices fitted in cars could also be used to monitor how you drive. Hopefully you are a careful driver and never exceed the speed limit, as this would enable you to enjoy a reduction on your insurance premiums, but if the opposite is true, it could end up costing you dearly.

Disadvantages of GPS Tracker Devices

One obvious disadvantage of a GPS tracker fitted in a car is that it is pretty impossible to go ‘off the grid’ while out and about. For most people this would not be a problem, but if you are having an illicit dalliance, your chances of being caught out are quadrupled. No longer can you claim you were ‘working late’. Instead your spouse can check your movements via the GPS tracker in your car and ascertain you were in fact at a local hotel between the hours of 5 and 11 pm.

GPS tracker devices have plenty of benefits. In the event of an emergency, they can pinpoint your location and guide help straight to you in the minimum amount of time. In the future, all cars may have such a device and it may even dial for help if you are incapacitated.

Featured images:

•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source

Today’s feature writer, Ken Rogers, is a part of Steamatic, which is a water damage restoration company. He is a foodie and whenever he isn’t busy, he enjoys travelling to exotic places. Please visit www.steamatic.ca for more tips and information.