ADUK Archive

I am currently writing an article for a local county council road safety magazine on Sat Nav survival, with some tips for using Sat Navs safely etc etc.

I would like to include a few funny 'real life' stories in the article from people who have had bad/amusing experiences with sat-navs. So if anyone has anything they would like to share I would appreciate that. If you could leave your first name and city/town if you dont mind that being published in our magazine that would be great.

Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you...

Sarah N wrote:with some tips for using Sat Navs safely etc etc.

I'm just curious what your tips are for using them safely.

Just some really basic tips which quite a few people probably wouldn't even consider including:
* Have a map as a fall back - technology can be unreliable
* Making sure its not going to obstruct your vision or its not placed anywhere where a airbag could be deployed
*Programme it before setting off not whilst driving
*And obviously dont take it as the law....they can go wrong!

Plus several more...

Not related to my use of it but Tesco's, more specifically their lorry drivers:

That just looks like pure numptyism to me, rather than sat nav. Surely that truck would go perfectly well round that corner? OK it might need both lanes for a moment, but all he had to do was wait until it was clear to do so...

Woops, it looks like he previously turned in to the junction and realised he actually wanted to go straight on, so in reversing back he steered the unit on to the grass, where upon it became firmly stuck.

He should have drove the lorry further up the 'wrong road' so when he reversed it back he could have got the trailer to start heading the way he wanted earlier, and save having to put the unit on the grass to get the vehicle to bend round too late.

It looks like he paniced with the reverse and messed it up

Now to answer the question with a tip. Obviously programe the sat nav before you start driving but also check you've put the correct destination in!

Two people at my place of work confessed they'd actually put the wrong destination in then set off driving, but only realised some 15 miles later they were heading the wrong way.

Pete East Barnet

I'd add: review and familiarise yourself with the planned route; keep track of progress; ensure you have the appropriate cables etc. to keep batteries charged / unit powered.

I'll confess on two occasions to have got into situations where the SatNav has either just plain lost the signal and wouldn't re-establish, and another where the the batteries ran out and the charging cable had 'malfunctioned'

On both occasions I had a backup paper map; but in both instances I had NO/LITTLE IDEA of where I was, other than county / town, and no real idea of my destination address -- post-codes don't work well on paper maps

Took a lot of map fiddling, head scratching and a bit of driving, looking at signs to work out where I was, plan a route, and navigate there. D'oh!

Hence, I now take a good look at the planned route and ensure I keep attention on actual progress, and remember to keep a note of the final destination too.

Actually, thinking about it, I also 'distrust' the spoken directions, and have a tendency to really only use the satnav as a visual cue / moving map, and glance at it as part of my ongoing observations. e.g. on a local pair of Mini R/As TomTom tells me to 'Turn Left, then Right'. If follows those spoken directions, one ends up 'straight ahead'. It actually means "Turn Right" at the first -- but because of the road layout / name changes reckons the entry onto the Mini is a Left turn. D'oh.

One has to get used to these foibles (which differ between manufacturers), and double-check the visual layout (without becoming fixated on the unit).

SeanP wrote:One has to get used to these foibles (which differ between manufacturers), and double-check the visual layout (without becoming fixated on the unit).

That last little phrase should be in super-bold, when I am sure we have all been reading about the Portuguese lorry driver who went into the back of a Toyota Previa killing a family of 6 perhaps because of fixating on a laptop/GPS.

On the first day I used my TomTom, the display clearly showed I should go anticlockwise round a roundabout near Sainsbury's in Chippenham, Wiltshire! I thought discretion was the better part of valour and chose to follow the Highway Code rather than Mr Tom. It was then I realised you can shout at your SatNav as much as you like and it never answers you back.
Suzy

Rabiedmushroom wrote:It was then I realised you can shout at your SatNav as much as you like and it never answers you back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llaQZFd6rUE (contains a couple of swear words for the delicate out there )

Chris

Some 'user feedback', stories and links here:
http://the-ride-info.blogspot.com/2008/09/gps-woes.html

Mr Cholmondeley-Warner wrote:That just looks like pure numptyism to me, rather than sat nav. Surely that truck would go perfectly well round that corner? OK it might need both lanes for a moment, but all he had to do was wait until it was clear to do so...

This case started with a (well signed and publicised) road closure for road works but rather than follow the advertised diversions lorry drivers, including several Tesco like this idiot, decided to follow their prat-navs down inappropriate unclassified narrow lanes (no legal width or height restriction but it would be bleeding obvious to anyone looking at a map). It doesn't look that way but it was neigh impossible for him to make the turn without straying onto the grass verge..

Which raises an interesting point, not being a Sat Nav user myself, do they have weight limits, height restrictions built in etc. And can they be programmed to take account of the vehicle they are being used in?