I love my 2021 Signature, and I quite like Mazda's navigation system as well. I use it in favour of G-Maps because I love how the instructions are displayed on the HUD.

On two separate trips yesterday, both Interstate and secondary, I kept seeing a small Green Dot on my prescribed route. It would show up well ahead of me, and as I approached, reached and passed it, I tried my best to figure out what it signified. Could not make any conclusions.

Finally my wife took a photo of it, and I will try to post it in this thread. If anyone can shed any light on what I was seeing, I would be most appreciative.

Thanks........................... Frank

 

Traffic light/stop light.

 

In the photo I posted, yes, there is a traffic light. You can see it underneath the Green Dot. But on the Interstate highways yesterday, I saw the Green Dot time and time again, even though there was no traffic light.

As an experiment, I just now took the car to the very traffic light I posted in my photo above. When simply driving about, neither the Green Dot or the traffic light was shown on the navigation screen. Once I programed in a destination, however, the very same intersection did show both the traffic light and the Green Dot when my instruction was to make a 90 degree turn at the light. Approaching it another way, where my instruction was to proceed straight through the light (no turn), the screen showed the traffic light, but not the Green Dot.

So now I am even more confused. It kinda makes sense that if I have to turn at the light, the Green Dot highlights that requirement. But then why, on the Interstate, where there was no navigational instruction to do anything but proceed straight again, and there was no traffic light, I still got a Green Dot. Many times over the course of 200 miles.

Any other insight?

Thanks................

 

What does the manual say? It may not address it, but it is worth a shot.

20121 Mazda Navigation Manual

 

There may be something in the manual, but I sure could not find it.

I am left to conclude that the Green Dot is intended to bring attention to a place where the driver must act, beyond the written and spoken instructions, but the scheme works inconsistently, sometimes alerting me when there actually is nothing to do but maintain vehicle direction. Akin to when instructions are "Bear to the left", when all that is actually meant is "Do not exit to the right".

Thanks for the help......................... Frank

 

I will say when I use waze or google maps, I will get announcements saying "prepare to stay left" as I am simply driving down the interstate to my programmed destination. There isn't anything to do but continue on yet the announcement is as if there is a turn or intersection to be aware of (there is nothing though). It could be similar for your question about the interstate green dots. I suspect it has to do with how the maps were programmed/made for the navigation. Likely they have extra data which causes the dots which really shouldn't be there.

 

I just looked through the manual and I could not find anything either. Well, worth a try...