22 GPS Safety Tips (That Actually Work) To Keep Your Family Safe

This article has 22 GPS safety tips to help you get the most out of your gps. It also discusses safety measures that you should use with GPS trackers to protect yourself against other people who may attempt to misuse it. GPS is a great tool but you should be informed to know the benefits and potential dangers when using GPS.

General GPS navigation safety tips

Enter the destination. Many people blow this off until they are already on the road and driving. One of the primary causes of accidents is the driver taking their eyes off the road. You eliminate this hazard by taking a minute to put in the address so you don’t ram the car in front of you when you type.
Tip: take advantage of your history log in your car navigation’s gps device. Most are touch screens that you can quickly find and be on your way.
Set the mode correctly. If you like taking the highway make sure the gps is set to that setting.
Position it properly. The closer the gps is to the windshield the less your eyes will have to be diverted away from the road. This is a huge consideration will distracted driving. The less you take your eyes off the road the less chance you will be distracted and unprepared to quickly react to a situation on the road that requires immediate action. You can’t do this is you are constantly looking down and to the right, if your gps were down by you air vents.
Listen to gps in the voice mode instead of constantly watching it. The voice turn by turn directions have improved dramatically over the years and are very accurate.
Have your passengers be the navigators and tell you when to turn. This will prevent you from having to take your eyes off the road.
Dont use a map – You will look like a tourist and will be an easier target. A lot of people are looking down at their phone while in public anyways. You will just look like you are reading the newest fake news from facebook.

GPS at home

Turn off your gps while at home. We often are so busy and don’t stop to think about this tip. You may not want everyone having access to your location. A good practice is too turn it off on your phone when you pull in the driveway and put the car in park.
Use incognito mode on your computer to avoid being tracked. Your location can be tracked by your phone and IP address.
Don’t use social media apps that broadcast your exact location. Also, be careful with what you post online. Depending on where you are, your phone may also show up on nearby maps or check ins on facebook or other social media without you even knowing it.

GPS safety for parents and kids

Use gps trackers for kids. Check out my extensive reviews of the best gps trackers for kids here. Look for trackers that have several features at a decent price. Having a SOS capability, push notifications and speed alerts are some of the top benefits that will provide you peace of mind so you don’t have to worry about your child as much.
Use geofences – Their children are monitored within the geofence zone that they setup which can be circles or the path that their child takes when they walk home.
Use gps alerts – Parents can set up the gps trackers for kids in a variety of modes, depending on how often they want to be notified. These push notifications are great because you don’t have to login a website every time you want an update so they save you time as well.
Practice – Show your kids how to use the gps and why it is important. Just like you should practice with an emergency plan, you should take time to go over how to operate the gps watch or tracker properly. There would be nothing worse than having a tracker and you child not knowing how to activate the SOS or text alerts.
Charge the battery regularly. These gps trackers for kids are a great tool for parents but, like all electronic devices, they use a lot of their battery within a few days. You should set up a charging routine with the watch. Some families take off their gps devices at dinner so they can be charged with their phones. Getting in a habit of charging them on a consistent basis will prevent you from forgetting and leaving your child with a device that is out of battery life. Not a good situation to be in.

Your GPS battery will die at some point

Save battery life – it can save your life.
Dim backlight – the backlight uses the majority of the battery on your device. Just as with your phone, if you use and dim setting then your battery will last much longer than if your screen were fully bright.
Turn on battery saver – Some of the newer gps devices have battery saver modes like phones do. This will still allow you to recieve gps coordinates but will slow down any of the non critcal apps running in the background of the phone to save the battery life.
Backup batteries – being out in the outdoors for an extended period of time requires you to have redundent batteries to power your devices. When you order your gps tracker you can add an extra battery for a few dollars. This is a gps best practice
Portable chargers can charge in a number of different ways including via fire, solar power or hand cranking generator. As technology continues to improve so do the devices to recharge your gadgets while we are away from any juice.
The BioLite CampStove 1- Wood-Burning Small Lightweight Stove with Internal Powerbank, Generates Electricity for USB Charging will Charge your gps tracker while you roast marshmallows. This is by far the coolest gadget for charging your gps tracker for hiking or camping and when you need it the most. You build a small charger in the canister which boils water and charges your phone or usb connected device, gps device for hikers and can provide 60 minutes worth of talk time with just a 20 minute charge. It doesn’t charge as fast as a plugin outlet at your home would provide but it is a great tool for hiking, camping and all around emergency situations where you have no electricity.
K-TOR Pocket Socket Hand Crank Generator Portable Power Supply 10 Watts 120 Volts . If you don’t feel like charging your gps with a fire charger then make sure you have a small hand crank generator. This device is great, it is small and can be easily stored in a backpack or even your coat pocket or in your tackle box if you are fishing. That way you will have power whenever you need it since your battery will die at some point if you are outside over a few days. The hand crank generator creates electricity via the crank so you can easily power any device that uses a plug. So gps trackers for any outdoor activity as well as your phones, radios or other electronic device.

Conclusion

Within this article, we reviewed provided a list of the 22 tips for gps safety. GPS is a great tool but you should be prepared to keep your GPS Tracker charged. You should be prepared and bring these accessories so you have fun without losing touch or your way.