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LONDON (Reuters) - The first official road signs to warn drivers about the dangers of trusting their satellite navigation devices (satnavs) were introduced on Tuesday in a Welsh village.
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The signs, introduced by authorities in rural St Hilary, in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales, to warn drivers about placing too much faith in the directional gadgets, could be brought in across the country if the trial is successful.
Problems were reported after foreign drivers found it difficult to understand phrases such as "unsuitable for heavy goods vehicles" but could understand pictorial notices, media reported.
The four signs have been introduced around one particular black spot in the village, where the electronic devices direct truck drivers to a shortcut between the main M4 motorway and Cardiff airport.
The road is far too narrow for many to travel down, causing them to get stuck and sparking major traffic problems.
More than a dozen large lorries had become stuck in the road in the past six months, according to traffic engineer Mark Simpson who came up with the idea for the signs.
"We have had a series of problems with drivers getting into trouble by trusting their satnavs and we needed to do something about it," Simpson was qouted in newspapers as saying.
"They can send drivers on the most direct routes which turn out to be narrow roads completely unsuitable for heavy and long trucks and lorries. Satnav can be a wonderful tool for drivers but it does have its dangers."
If successful, officials plan a national roll-out of the signs to combat what is seen as a growing problem for frustrated motorists, with recent figures showing that more than four million of Britain's 32 million drivers rely on satnavs.
Some have reported that software glitches have sent drivers down one-way streets or up impassable mountain tracks.
One ambulance driver with a faulty satnav drove hundreds of miles in the wrong direction while transferring a patient from one hospital in Ilford east of London to another just 8 miles (13 km) away.
A spokesman for the Welsh Assembly regional government said that officials would be "watching closely" the trial's results before deciding whether to expand the programme.
He also said that officials from the Department of Transport had been consulted and were also monitoring the experiment.
Hmm, since when did normal maps have road restrictions on them?
edit: Unless can you get trucker maps? IE with height and width restrictions?
This post may be the result of ale...
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admittedly if your in a HGV, then you shouldnt assume all roads are suitable...
Also, with the signs, youd think that signs would have been considered before hand. Its not a requirement for foreign drivers to read all signs, so youd have thought the contingency existed for pictorial signs for such dangers...
edit: Unless can you get trucker maps? IE with height and width restrictions?
That exactly what you can get and it is the bible for any Uk trucker. Produced by the AA and has stopped me (when i was driiving big trucks) from getting into sticky situations.
Personally i cant see how anyone gets into difficulty using a Sat nav. A bit of common sense just looking at the surroundings has always suggested to me it might be a good idea not to take a turning advised.
If you rely solely on satnav then you deserve EVERYTHING you get! Most of the UK truckers have an ounce of common sense and take into consideration things like if it's an A or B road, if it's marked with a low bridge sign etc, and it doesn't take much to think "hmm that road looks a bit iffy, I'll find another way" The guy on Jeremy Vines show today said it was mainly continental truck drivers who follow satnav to the instruction getting stuck in the village, maybe because they couldn't understand the sign reading Unsuitable for HGVs and carrying on regardless.
I always have a check on my map for low bridges if it's somewhere I've never been before, it takes less than 5 mins and can save a lot of grief in the long run. Only downside is AA map doesn't show bridges on minor roads, only A and B roads, thankfully taking poles down and any cars on the top I can get under most low ones if the worst does happen
I can certify that it does happen, trucks have met tractors head-on too.
Most sat-navs don't take you down there mind you, struggle to think of one that does - the roads are so small the Carlton wouldn't fit in some of them, the road doesn't even have a name/number!
I don't envy the HGV guys at all around here.
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-Alex- wrote:
I don't envy the HGV guys at all around here.
You want to see some of the addresses I have to try and get to to drop some guys new car off at! Unfortunately they don't bother to ask what access is like, and they don't think about things like low trees either, but I bet they'd be the first to jump up and down if a branch went through a windscreen
Thankfully most delivery notes have a tel number on so I do it myself if it starts to get awkward roadwise!
Whilst we're ranting about foreign lorry drivers, I'd like to air an issue that perhaps many don't know about: many of them watch portable DVD players whilst driving on our roads. This may explain why they seem to wander about on dual carriageways/motorways more than UK trucks. Obviously it's extremely dangerous and it's highly unlikely they'll ever get caught because no police vehicle can see them due to the height.
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Punx0r wrote:Whilst we're ranting about foreign lorry drivers, I'd like to air an issue that perhaps many don't know about: many of them watch portable DVD players whilst driving on our roads. This may explain why they seem to wander about on dual carriageways/motorways more than UK trucks. Obviously it's extremely dangerous and it's highly unlikely they'll ever get caught because no police vehicle can see them due to the height.
Ahh no no no, that's not a dvd player, it's their satnav! Ask any of them and thats what they tell you! A lot do have it on laptops, so while some do have a dvd playing some (well odd one or two) do have satnav running on it (maybe in a minimised window ahem! )
hello. I want to ask somethink if have somebody can help me, please, write me. I want to know, from where I can buy or download map for low bridges in England? If somebody know somethink, please, tell me Thank You for the information in advance
just up the road from me!
A lot do have it on laptops, so while some do have a dvd playing some (well odd one or two) do have satnav running on it (maybe in a minimised window ahem! )