The bearing of a road segment indicates the direction that the segment
follows from an end thereof. A primary bearing of a road segment is
determined with respect to a significant shape point located along the
road segment. The significant shape point is not necessarily the shape
point closest to the end point, but is that shape point located within or
beyond a predetermined range of distance from the end point. A secondary
bearing is determined for some road segments. The secondary bearing
indicates the general direction that a road segment follows leading away
from an end point. The secondary bearing is determined using a view
distance. The view distance is based on attributes of the road segment and
represents an estimate of the distance of the driver's field of view as
he/she approaches the intersection. Data indicating the primary and
secondary bearing can be stored in a geographic database used by a
navigation system. A navigation system application uses the primary and
secondary bearing data to explicate driving maneuvers.
