Reasons I do not want a satnav

[bunn]

I've just had a call from a bloke who is coming to our house to fix something.  He said he was going to follow his satnav to the village, which he confidently pronounces is 10 minutes away from his current location.

10 minutes later: panicky call: " Help!  Where am I!  I'm in a wood!'   Discussion concludes that his satnav has directed him to the wrong side of the river and  he is, therefore,  in the wrong county.   What's more, on enquiry it turned out that he did actually know where the village was, roughly - only because the satnav told him, he went another way.  Why do people believe what computers tell them, so confidingly?

If he has not been eaten by beavers, I expect another call when he gets to the pub, because satnav is no use in a village that only has one postcode anyway.

Give me a map any time.

Comments

[sigisgrim.livejournal.com]

The post code for my work address used to direct people to the other side of the major road about mile or so north west of where we really are. It now directs people to about half-a-mile north of were we are. OK, the little estate has only been here for about four years, but still.

I like gadgets and stuff like that, but give me a map and stuff your satnav. As far as I'm concerned a car with one in is a car not worth buying.

A couple of years ago I and my boss had to go to somewhere in the middle of northern Nottinghamshire. We used the sat nave in his car, were directed north up the M1, then south down the A1M. The next time we went I said lets come off at (IIRC) M1 J18 and head east. We saved 45 minutes!

[helflaed.livejournal.com]

Oh those things. I was out riding a few of years ago, and was down a very small single track lane about five miles outside Tow Law.

For those of you not familiar with Co Durham, this can be pretty much classed as the middle of nowhere.

He was looking for location which turned out to be over 20 miles away.

I've not trusted those things since I worked for the AA on a satnav project- you wouldn't believe some of the routes it came up with. Fortunately, having worked for the AA I can mapread like a good 'un. Give me directions and I'll get hideously lost. Give me a road name, number of 6 figure grid ref and I'm fine.

Incidentally- have you ever had anyone go to the wrong town because they put the postcode in wrong?

[(Anonymous)]

I don't remember ever having someone put the postcode in wrong, but we have had a few people put the village name in, and then go to the wrong place because there are two of them, one in Devon, one in Cornwall - the Devon one is slightly bigger so comes up first in lists.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

adaese's mother lives on P***** Road, which is part of the A404. The first time I went to see adaese there, she gave me very detailed instructions, which I didn't really listen to once I'd found it on the map.

Er, it turns out I found the other P***** Road that's part of the A404 ...

[purplecat]

We find it very hard to convince G. that we actually know better than the satnav. She gets very distressed when it announces it has to recalculate the route because we appear to think we know better and have ignored its advice.

We find it very useful (especially if its just one of us driving to a previously unknown location - such as a children's party. But you need a map and common sense as backup.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

When we got a taxi to the Morris feast last year, the taxi driver signalled to turn left at the end of the Close. "Er, you should be going right," we said. She continued to signal left. "Er, right really is the best way," we said. She told us that the satnav said to go left, because "the road to the right is a dead end." We informed her that the road to the right had ceased being a dead end about 5 years ago, when they finished building the estate, and we knew this for a fact because we do actually live here and drive that road almost every day.

She went left.

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

The only use for satnavs is when you are by yourself in the car in an unfamiliar urban area, because, honestly, reading a map in heavy traffic is more likely to get you to crash than listening to a voice, even when it's wrong. (Even more so if you are in an unfamiliar country - a work colleague bought one to use in the hire car he used to drive alone around Australia, and for this it was fine.)

We once went to a cat show and were directed (by maps printed from Autoroute, which is just as bad) down a narrow road with passing places because it was a tad shorter than the main road. We were followed all the way by a 4x4. When we parked, the 4x4 drew up beside us, and a cheerful person stuck her head out and said, "You were using satnav, weren't you?"

Next time, we stuck to the main road.

[lanciatore.livejournal.com]

"If he has not been eaten by beavers"

ROTFLMAO

All the post to my workplace goes to a PO Box, so when engineers come to visit we have to give them the _other_ postcode or else they end up miles away at the central post office