Sat Nav & GPS Blog

myPOIs.ie and Pumps.ie have announced the availability of daily fuel price updates for Garmin sat-nav users.  For the first time in Ireland users will now be able to download regular fuel price updates directly onto their sat-nav from www.mypois.ie.

www.pumps.ie is Ireland’s No. 1 and definitive online source of up to day service station fuel prices and price analysis. Entirely community driven, the web site receives over 300 fuel price updates on a weekly basis.

“It’s all about giving the best service and information we can to our subscribers.  We are delighted to have teamed up with Pumps.ie.  Fuel prices are an emotive topic and with significant price differences at service stations, often within the same geographic area, substantial savings can be made by simply shopping around.  This service gives our subscribers information when they most need it and should put a few euro back in their pockets each week!”, said John Dundon for myPOIs.ie.

“There are huge benefits to everyone by having our information on mobile devices such as sat-navs,”, said Jonathan Dean of Pumps.ie.  ”This partnership with myPOIs.ie means that we now have a database of over 1,500 service stations in Ireland with accurate locations.”

Both companies have further plans to enhance the service over the next few months to add details such as opening hours and facilities available at the service stations.

Finally completed the task of getting all the new Garda Speed Enforcement Zones (Sez) into our database.  What was taking the time was working out the direction of each zone.

So you can now download the complete set of the Garda Speed Enforcement Zones to your Sat-Nav from www.mypois.ie.  Sorry but for the moment this only works with Garmin sat-nav.  There are full instructions on the site about what you have to do.

There are no speed limit details with any of the zones (presumably because there are several limits in each zone) however if any one out there wants to collect this information and share it with the rest of our community, we’ll be happy to add the details to our database.  Send an email to submissions@mypois.ie with the zone identifier e.g. WW010  (Zone 10 in Co. Wicklow) and the speed limit/s.

We will likely tweak the dataset over the next few days so maybe refresh your sat-nav at the end of the week.

Click here and download now!

Yesterday, as reported on RTE Evening News, Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy launched eight new speed detection vans in Templemore, Co. Tipperary as part of An Garda Siochana’s Road Safety Strategy 2007 -2012. The aim of this strategy is to reduce road collisions, deaths and injuries on Irish roads.

After an extensive analysis in conjuction with the National Roads Authority, the Garda have identified over 800 speed enforcement zones which are based on collision histories where speed was a major contributor. A full list is also available on their web site. The aim is to provide “information to motorists in order to raise awareness of speeding in these zones”.

To view the Garda Speed Enforcement Zones on www.mypois.ie, click here.

To see details of zones, the easiest way is to search by county using the ‘Find on map’ facility at the top of the web page.

Later today, the speed zones will be available for download onto Garmin sat-nav devices from www.mypois.ie.  There will be alerts when entering and leaving a zone and the zone heading (North, South etc.).  There is no charge for this download.  You can also download Road Safety Authority Danger Zones which are based on 2005 accident data.

We will update the blog once the download is ready to go.

While surfing the internet, I came across an Irish website that is selling Snooper Radar Detectors and stating that they are perfectly legal to use in Ireland, which brings us to the question that we have been frequently asked here at mysatnav – are these devices legal or illegal in Ireland?

These are laser devices used by drivers to detect mobile safety cameras and alert the driver if their speed is being monitored by the Gardai.  Although they are legal in some countries, the UK being one, they are completely illegal to use in Ireland. In fact, the mere existence of a radar detector in a car, even if switched off can attract confiscation and/or a hefty fine. The reason why these radar detectors are illegal is because they interfere with a Garda officer’s ability to carry out his duties.

Check out the Irish Statute Book to see the offical regulation.

On a more positive note, it is definitely not illegal to have the positions of safety cameras on you GPS device. In December 2007 while being interviewed on RTE’s Morning Ireland about the introduction of safety cameras in Ireland, Eddie Rock, Assistant Commissioner of the Traffic Corps said that he has no issue with GPS devices showing locations of these cameras.

To view and download the latest mobile and fixed safety camera locations go to www.mypois.ie

Following on from our announcement that myPOIs.ie had launched, we have now fully integrated both sites – you can now easily purchase a myPOIs.ie subscription on mySatNav.ie. Both Premium and Premium+ products are available on the following product pages:

• myPOIs.ie Premium Subcription
• myPOIs.ie Premium+ Subcription

Time Limited Special Offer!! If you purchase any compatible Garmin GPS, and add either a Premium or Premium+ subscription you’ll Save €25.

When you purchase a Premium or Premium+ Subscription we’ll automatically set up your account on myPOIs.ie so that you can instantly download POI databases and Irish Safety Camera Databases direct to your Garmin GPS.