If you are the type of person who wants to preempt and avoid another directions-catastrophe in the making, the trick to fix things may simply be just a car GPS system. Take your pick: a stand-alone GPS system, a handheld system or a computer or personal data assistant type? Whatever form they take, they are a big help in keeping drivers focused on the right road (or dirt path for that matter, where appropriate).

Regardless of the car GPS system you plan to avail of, note that it is possible not to have monthly fees for the automotive GPS service or other GPS-related subscription fees. What you may expect however are extra services and features that can be added, which will certainly require additional fees for you to enjoy. An example of this situation would be real-time traffic reports, or new weather updates, or high-end satellite radio, which all cost extra.

And now, a bit of history for our background. Even if GPS navigation appears unthinkable, say, some ten years ago, the network of "Global Positioning Satellites", property of the US government, has actually been around since the 1970’s. Military purposes were actually the original behind the then-novel technology.

But where how does the public's accessibility of this government property come in? Sure, the US Government has the last say on the GPS network, but fortunately it maintains the broadcasts in unencrypted form. This means just about anybody with a receiver can help him or herself to the free GPS data. Companies and some private high-tech folk alike use receivers in many different applications.

The use of a global positioning system is legally fine under federal law, since the federal government provides the service anyway, which is why companies cannot put charges on the car GPS service. As we have seen, the exception to all the free-loading is when you want to get turn-by-turn directions or a map of your pending travel route.

A definite perk in owning another car GPS product, a GPS-supported tracking system, in your vehicle is the security in knowing where it is at any given moment. In the rare (but very real) event your vehicle is stolen, if your system is connected to a national service, its current location can by identified and that information passed on to law enforcers.

The handheld units can be connected into your PC at home and the automotive GPS maps can be stored in your PDA for use in an upcoming trip. Signing up for the turn-by-turn directions feature greatly reduces the likelihood of losing your way and messing up precious vacation time. A lot of handheld units can be used for a variety of uses, as varied as geocaching to "looking" for ideal fishing spots.