SATELLITE navigation systems and speed camera warning devices are set to be the big Christmas present this year – but they could cause safety problems, fleets have heard.

Drivers are positioning the systems on their windscreens where they can obscure their view and risk causing accidents.

Members of car fleet operators’ organisation ACFO also heard that if the mechanism was left in place when a car was sent in for an MoT, it could fail because a driver’s vision was obscured, even though the device could be removed.

Earlier this year Fleet News reported on complaints about the use of portable satellite navigation systems distracting drivers’ attention from the road and blocking the view ahead.

In August, Fleet NewsNet reported on one fleet manager’s concerns.

Andrew Wright, sales director of McKenzie Myers, said: ‘There is currently a vogue for PDA-style navigation systems which attach by a sucker to the inside of the car. I see several a day positioned just below the rear-view mirror, in exactly the part of the windscreen where a pedestrian, cyclist, or even a 40-tonne truck might emerge into view. Of course, these idiots will never know how dangerous they are because no-one will ever stop them and throw the book at them.’