How can sat nav be to blame??
Discussion
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/708810...
It really boils my (slightly alcoholic this morning) urine, this. How can a sat nav be responsible for a car/truck/bus etc hitting something on the road?
Surely it's the bloody driver of the aforementioned vehicle's fault as they are the one piloting it down something that it's really not meant to go.
Buses etc have "Width of Vehicle" and "Height of Vehicle" stickers in the cab, there is no excuse - if I was a haulage company boss and was told by a driver of me "it's not my fault, the sat nav took me down a road that was too tight", I'd sack the bugger there and then.
Sat nav is an aid, not a replacement for looking - the sooner people stop relying 100% on them the better imho.
It really boils my (slightly alcoholic this morning) urine, this. How can a sat nav be responsible for a car/truck/bus etc hitting something on the road?
Surely it's the bloody driver of the aforementioned vehicle's fault as they are the one piloting it down something that it's really not meant to go.
Buses etc have "Width of Vehicle" and "Height of Vehicle" stickers in the cab, there is no excuse - if I was a haulage company boss and was told by a driver of me "it's not my fault, the sat nav took me down a road that was too tight", I'd sack the bugger there and then.
Sat nav is an aid, not a replacement for looking - the sooner people stop relying 100% on them the better imho.
Yes but rather than fiddle with a road map people used to just follow the main road even if it took a bit longer since they were better sign posted. Since Sat Navs quite a few small places have had similar problems with increased traffic as the Sat Nav says this way (i.e. along the tiny country road through several villages) is the quicker route.
Driving anything bigger than a van you begin payin attention to narrow lanes and the narrowness of rural lanes, quite honestly if the local trees start looking as though they don't see to many large vehicles (like busses) and are overhanging the road, it might just be worth stopping to ask, or at least point at the map, so the natives can help.
Blaming your problems on a guidance device is no defence is it
Blaming your problems on a guidance device is no defence is it
The thing is, sat navs only take people through villages (for the most part anyway) if they are set to "shortest" route, not fastest... I admit this isn't every time, but about 95% of the time it is correct.
You stick it on fastest and you won't have much trouble.
Nevertheless - it is showing much too much overreliance on sat navs by supposedly "professional" drivers. I'd love to know how *anything* was delivered by anyone at all before we had sat nav...
All the sat nav does is calculate a route, it can only work with the information it is given and since none of them either ask, nor calculate for road widths - the onus lies directly on the driver of the vehicle to make sure their truck/bus/whatever can fit down the gaps.
If they put blind faith in the nav, then them must accept the responsibility of their actions - the sat nav isn't driving the vehicle, the driver is!
You stick it on fastest and you won't have much trouble.
Nevertheless - it is showing much too much overreliance on sat navs by supposedly "professional" drivers. I'd love to know how *anything* was delivered by anyone at all before we had sat nav...
All the sat nav does is calculate a route, it can only work with the information it is given and since none of them either ask, nor calculate for road widths - the onus lies directly on the driver of the vehicle to make sure their truck/bus/whatever can fit down the gaps.
If they put blind faith in the nav, then them must accept the responsibility of their actions - the sat nav isn't driving the vehicle, the driver is!
not in that particular story, but on the linked ones to the side:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/5234396.stm
"A driver whose cheese lorry was stuck down a narrow farm track in a village has blamed his satellite navigation system for giving him wrong directions."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/695742...
"The driver of an articulated lorry was stuck for more than three hours on a tight bend in Carmarthenshire, after taking directions from his sat nav."
"The driver refused to comment but told residents he had been using sat nav."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/64833...
"A group of children had to abandon a school trip before even arriving - after a driver followed his satellite navigation to the wrong destination."
That's just a few people who have blamed the sat navs...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/5234396.stm
"A driver whose cheese lorry was stuck down a narrow farm track in a village has blamed his satellite navigation system for giving him wrong directions."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/695742...
"The driver of an articulated lorry was stuck for more than three hours on a tight bend in Carmarthenshire, after taking directions from his sat nav."
"The driver refused to comment but told residents he had been using sat nav."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/64833...
"A group of children had to abandon a school trip before even arriving - after a driver followed his satellite navigation to the wrong destination."
That's just a few people who have blamed the sat navs...
Frederick said:
Nevertheless - it is showing much too much overreliance on sat navs by supposedly "professional" drivers. I'd love to know how *anything* was delivered by anyone at all before we had sat nav...
I can answer that one - we read the map as we drove. I remember my Tranny van days, on city deliveries, A-Z in one hand, gearlever in the other.Negative Creep said:
I'd put money on most of those drivers using a Sat Nav that was designed for cars
Given that none are designed for trucks, I'd sy so too. (Actually, i beleive one for trucks has just been released.Frederick said:
not in that particular story, but on the linked ones to the side:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/.stm
"A driver whose cheese lorry was stuck down a narrow farm track in a village has blamed his satellite navigation system for giving him wrong directions."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/.stm
"The driver of an articulated lorry was stuck for more than three hours on a tight bend in Carmarthenshire, after taking directions from his sat nav."
"The driver refused to comment but told residents he had been using sat nav."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/.stm
"A group of children had to abandon a school trip before even arriving - after a driver followed his satellite navigation to the wrong destination."
That's just a few people who have blamed the sat navs...
These stories are never related accurately, Fred. Ask anyone who's ever had any dealings with the media, they'll probably tell you they're about 5% accurate.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/.stm
"A driver whose cheese lorry was stuck down a narrow farm track in a village has blamed his satellite navigation system for giving him wrong directions."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/.stm
"The driver of an articulated lorry was stuck for more than three hours on a tight bend in Carmarthenshire, after taking directions from his sat nav."
"The driver refused to comment but told residents he had been using sat nav."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/.stm
"A group of children had to abandon a school trip before even arriving - after a driver followed his satellite navigation to the wrong destination."
That's just a few people who have blamed the sat navs...
A mate of mine had some dealings recently. The news item read "A local businessmann... " and that was the only part that was accurate. The rest was all made up.
Very true, especially the biased broadcasting corporation...
The thing is, I sell sat nav etc for a living, and the amount of people who have come in saying "my sat nav told me to go down (insert inappropriate road name here) and I got stuck so it must be broken" doesn't number in the tens...
I guess truckers and bus drivers are sufficiently high profile enough to grab headlines when they say "it's not my fault it's the sat nav wot told me to go that way guv'nor", but they are not an isolated group.
I guess it's just another aspect of the current culture that says "everything is someone else's fault" - no-one accepts responsibility for their own actions any more, it would appear.
The thing is, I sell sat nav etc for a living, and the amount of people who have come in saying "my sat nav told me to go down (insert inappropriate road name here) and I got stuck so it must be broken" doesn't number in the tens...
I guess truckers and bus drivers are sufficiently high profile enough to grab headlines when they say "it's not my fault it's the sat nav wot told me to go that way guv'nor", but they are not an isolated group.
I guess it's just another aspect of the current culture that says "everything is someone else's fault" - no-one accepts responsibility for their own actions any more, it would appear.
looked at sat nav, but went across country this afternoon, biggest problem was black mould growing over the black letters on a grimy white sign, ended up simply going in a straight line and ended up where needed to go, but then I drive a car 
imagine driving to poland and using the local maps only, must be confusing, so guess the poles and the rest like using sat navs...
imagine driving to poland and using the local maps only, must be confusing, so guess the poles and the rest like using sat navs...
IQ's have definately dropped over the last 10 years or so, and for every bit of technology that comes out, thoses IQ's drop just a little further. Each gadget that does this or does that, removing the persons need to think, and thus the sense that they should be held for responsible for their own actions, only takes us further towards a society that does as the technology tells it to.
People trust technology too much, and when it fails, they have something else to blame for getting lost or stuck or whatever. Yeah, I have satnav, but I also have a map and mark one eye ball, and I know which I trust more.
People trust technology too much, and when it fails, they have something else to blame for getting lost or stuck or whatever. Yeah, I have satnav, but I also have a map and mark one eye ball, and I know which I trust more.
Sat Nav tried to take me down a Bus Lane in Manchester on Sat, fortunatly driver has the option to observe signs and 'override' it.
Also noticed a police van concealed and waiting nearby for any victims (maybe they sponsor Tom Tom?).
The nasty little piggies didn't get their victim this time though - sure they get plenty of business though to justify waiting there. Guess accidentally going down a bus lane is one of the more serious crimes in Manchester.
Also noticed a police van concealed and waiting nearby for any victims (maybe they sponsor Tom Tom?).
The nasty little piggies didn't get their victim this time though - sure they get plenty of business though to justify waiting there. Guess accidentally going down a bus lane is one of the more serious crimes in Manchester.
We have a sign in widespread use here in the states. "No through trucks" at the entrance to any village, town or neighborhood where it's required. Cost about $25, installed. Upon encountering the sign, drivers have to pull over and manually re-route Sat-Nav around truck restricted village to destination. Problem solved. Talk about making mountains out of molehills!
we also have similar signs in some places, they get ignored...
went to site recently, the site manager has thick heavy bollards covered by cctv that get regularly rammed by stolen cars to rip out the bollards, this allows the trucks to detour via a housing estate and save 30 mins or so on their journey
whilst you can buy truck specific sat navs to allow for bridge and width restrictions, most drivers seem to use the car version.
recently drove from bedfordshire to brighton, then farnham and camberly and back to bedfordshire all in one day, if did not know the roads, would be tempted to use sat nav (not have it as such) and let the machine make the recommendations
went to site recently, the site manager has thick heavy bollards covered by cctv that get regularly rammed by stolen cars to rip out the bollards, this allows the trucks to detour via a housing estate and save 30 mins or so on their journey
whilst you can buy truck specific sat navs to allow for bridge and width restrictions, most drivers seem to use the car version.
recently drove from bedfordshire to brighton, then farnham and camberly and back to bedfordshire all in one day, if did not know the roads, would be tempted to use sat nav (not have it as such) and let the machine make the recommendations
Over-reliance on technology leading to ossification of the drivers natural skills and ability - folk using sat-navs just don't use their eyes and observe the roads they are driving down.
Just my opinion though, and I'm one of those strange people who can go more than 37 seconds without talking to someone on a mobile phone
Just my opinion though, and I'm one of those strange people who can go more than 37 seconds without talking to someone on a mobile phone
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