I have to ask this: was he not looking where he was going? If you rely solely on satnav to get you anywhere, all sorts of badness could happen.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/sou ... 148763.stm

Twat!

I'm sorry, but these sat nav stories are just stupid! And riding with "head down" long enough not to spot the big motorway signs says that he wasn't looking for any other hazards either, like cars, pedestrians, other cyclists, holes in the road etc. either.

It just doesn't wash. If he really didn't notice he was going onto the motorway, then I'd have done him for due care and attention as well!

+1

fcuking cyclists

+1

+2

Nothing wrong with cyclists - although given the general road conditions in the UK, I don't think I'd want to ride much - my girlfriend was horrified at the cycle paths on country roads and in town, when she visited my family earlier this yeas; as in the total lack of any real facilities for cyclists.

It is the total brainlessness of some people, once you present them with a satnav system.

Indeed - give people a strong, reassuring, assertive voice to follow and look what happens. It's as if the voice of these devices speaks directly to their inner 6 year old; they can't help obey or else they feel as if they've been bad. I swear my friends system even sounds somewhat disappointed and frustrated if you decide not to follow it's orders. 'Route recalculation' it sighs. If it had eyes, it'd roll them.

I think satnavs allow the driver some false feeling of abdication of responsibility. 'I don't need to think about where I'm going, the satnav does it.'

You know, I'm sort of with you there. Best Beloved has acquired a satnav gizmo. We used it last weekend, and it's the way it phrases that confused me.

Turn right. (No, not yet. Not till I tell you.) Turn right, now.

I can see how some people just take the first instruction and turn right. I nearly did it a couple of times, and would have been up someone's drive, or in a cul-de-sac. Thankfully, I've enough sense not to turn into no entries or up railway lines at level crossings.

I was in a taxi a few months back and he had downloaded Ozzy Osbourne as the voice on his.
I've never heard language like it before, it was hilarious.

My TomTom says to turn after so many yards then to turn just before the turning. A quick glance at the screen to make sure that I am turning down the road it is telling me to.

Completely agree with your post. Whenever I use satnav (which is when I go to a place I've never been before), I pay more attention to the road than to the satnav. I'm not worried when it tells me to turn left and I see the road sign saying no entry.

Back when I used maps to navigate my dad around places like London, I'd say, as an example, take the next right. Next right is a no-entry road as it is one-way, so he would keep driving and I would look for the next suitable turn off. Perhaps satnavs need either a delay or not say 'turn right now' but 'turn right in xxx yards' and leave it at that.

IIRC the new TomTom will say things like "Turn right in 200 yards into Roman Avenue" using text-to-speech software.

They’ve let him off.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/sou ... 149629.stm

Is it possible to get points on a bicycle?

And I like the way the police panicked and dropped the charges

No doubt the sat-nav was designed for cars, not bicycles, and thus had no problem with guiding him on to the motorway.