Autoblog

The UK's Department for Transportation (DfT) is trying to put an end to situations like the one you see above. A woman headed to a christening party, paying attention to her satnav -- and little else, apparently -- drove down a road marked "Unsuitable for motor vehicles," and then drove into a swollen river because that's what her navi told her to do.

The DfT wants satnav makers to improve their directions, and also wants them to start providing alternate routes depending on the particular car. In addition to consumer complaints, the DfT is also reacting to increasing incidents of truck drivers getting stranded on narrow country lanes. The 2,000 times it happens each year are estimated to cost £10 million and create 5,000 hours in delays.

The DfT will essentially issue a seal of approval that it wants buyers to look for as a sign of directional quality. We still don't know what they plan to do about drivers who ignore signs that say, "Don't drive down this road," and people who think its OK to ford a river just because the little voice inside their cars says so.

[Source: WhatCar?]

A little more than a month after one bloke followed his GPS guidance into the path of a train, we find a lorry driver in Great Britain pulling a similar blunder. Instead of looking outside the cab of the truck and noticing the large sign indicating the road was "unsuitable for heavy goods vehicles," he ignorantly followed the GPS display as it led him down a narrow farm lane. Within minutes, his 45-foot tractor trailer became firmly wedged in the mud and thicket. Needless to say, his trip to carry timber from north Wales to Birmingham was abruptly cut short. The driver's job is likely in jeopardy, but he is thankfully uninjured. The owner of the land, who now has to drive an extra two miles around the detour, is understandably irate.

This isn't a rare occurrence. In November, a Czech truck driver in the U.K. was led off course by his GPS and ended up spending three nights stuck in the woods. And who can forget the Brit who followed his GPS guidance into a river? GPS is a wonderful technology, but it is no substitute for common sense! Thanks for the tip Bobby!

[Source: Engadget]