Sat Nav Insanity

Here’s a new report from Thorpe, Surrey:

Lorries coming through ‘Rosemary Lane, Thorpe, Surrey’ instead of the Thorpe Bypass on route to Thorpe Industrial Estate. Rosemary Lane is width restricted at the bottom end and not shown on Sat Nav systems. It’s getting worse every year…

We’ve had two reports from Twyford, Hampshire highlighting the madness of using the B3354 as a major road for truck movements:

I have seen a lorry hit a bus on the ‘Bugle Corner’ Twyford, Hampshire, smashing their front offside wings. The corner is too sharp for two large vehicles. I have often seen lorries riding the kerb on the same corner in order to get round each other. I am constantly afraid for anyone who walks along the road there. Since there is a very excellent motorway only half a mile away, bypassing all towns and villages. It is insane to use the minor roads. It cannot be cost-effective to wind through the villages either; much better to trundle along the motorway. Worst offenders are: Blowplast. I will take a number of photos and post them.

and

I live in Twyford, 3 miles south of Winchester. Articulated lorries, car transporters and other heavy duty vehicles are using the B3335 instead of the M3 to link to the M27. This means that they travel through the villages of Twyford and Colden Common causing mayhem for the unfortunate ones who have to live there. It is incredibly dangerous for other road users and pedestrians, in particular, older people and school children. There is a serious accident waiting to happen. Can this be stopped please? We can hardly hear the church bells ring for the noise. How awful is that for the village of Twyford?

Villagers in Carmarthenshire say they fear restoration work is being damaged by drivers using satellite navigation.

Read the BBC report >>

A Czech lorry driver spent three nights in his cab after his satellite navigation system directed him down a narrow country lane.

The driver, 45, was on his way to pick up a consignment of televisions from a depot in Devon when his 40-tonne articulated lorry became wedged on a sharp bend near Ivybridge. Residents were forced to make lengthy diversions as it was impossible to get past the 50ft (15m) long, 8ft wide lorry.

Read the original report >>

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.

Read the original report >>

SAT NAV technology designed to make life easier for drivers is making life harder for rural people.

People living in towns and villages near Winchester are complaining that satellite navigation systems are misdirecting drivers onto unsuitable roads.

There are a growing number of reports of lorries getting stuck on tight corners and narrow country lanes.

One village in the Meon Valley, Exton has erected a sign asking drivers to turn off their satnav systems.

Sat navs tell drivers the quickest route but many systems do not take into account the suitability of the local roads.

Now Alresford town councillor Mark Luckham is launching a campaign to minimise the problem.

Read the full Daily Echo report >>

FED-UP residents are calling for a sign allowing lorries down their narrow lane to be changed after a truck got stuck four times causing thousands of pounds damage to their walls.

Read the original article >>

See the Daily Mail’s coverage of the problems in Luddenden >>

It may be the quickest route according to your in-car guide, but increasingly the technology is sending drivers on rat runs through obscure rural byways – and the locals aren’t happy, report Dipesh Gadher and Luke David of The Sunday Times

Read more in the Sunday Times >>