10 sat-nav disasters

Some of the most spectacular disasters caused by satellite navigation systems - and how you can avoid having them happen to you.

Satellite navigation systems have revolutionised driving over the past decade or so, saving us time and fuel - and a whole lot of arguments with backseat drivers and map-readers too! But sometimes things can go wrong. Very wrong. Here are some of the worst sat-nav mishaps from around the globe - and some advice on how you can avoid them.

• Cars and water don't mix, as a driver in Glubczyce, Poland, found out. He doggedly followed the instructions of his sat-nav - ignoring the road signs telling him that the road ahead was closed - and drove straight into the middle of a reservoir. Fortunately the man and his passengers clambered onto the roof of the car and were rescued by the emergency services.
  
• In 2008, Syrian lorry driver Necdet Bakimci found himself stranded on a nature reserve in Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire. He was 1,600 miles from his intended destination: Gibraltar, on the southern tip of Spain. Confusingly, his sat-nav system listed Gibraltar as being in the UK (because it's a colonial outpost). Confronted with a choice of two Gibraltars, both seemingly in the British Isles, Bakimci and his cargo of luxury cars took a 3,200 mile detour.
  
• Want to move up in the world? Then buy a car at auction. When police sold the Duchess of York's Jaguar, the lucky buyer got more than he bargained for. The car's in-built sat-nav system was programmed with the address shared by the Duchess and her daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, along with locations of some of the favourite haunts of Britain's aristocracy.
  
• Villagers in Exton, in southern England, were so used to trucks getting stuck down a two-metre wide country lane that the council put up signs telling drivers to ignore their sat-navs and take a different route. Dozy HGV drivers who relied on their GPS devices had to reverse half a mile, causing damage to hedges and fences, in order to turn around.
  
• Police in Victoria, Australia have urged drivers not to discard their old-fashioned maps. An increasing number of motorists have been stranded after relying on their GPS systems, getting taken on routes that are only accessible to four-wheel drive vehicles. Many parts of Australia do not have up-to-date digital mapping and sat-nav companies have been relying on data that can be up to ten years out of date.
  
• Zhou Xia and Zhao Na Na's crime spree came to an abrupt end when they were stopped by police in Doncaster, Yorkshire. They were found carrying thousands of Euros and a number of stolen credit cards. But the most damning evidence was the sat-nav device, programmed with the addresses of all the Post Offices that they had defrauded.
  
• State troopers in Vermont, USA have called for GPS users to exercise common sense after a series of inattentive drivers found themselves following snowmobile trails. One soldier from Fort Drum, NY, drove so deeply onto a trail that police had to use a snow tractor to drag him to safety.
  
• A hospital patient on a ward transfer got taken on an eight-hour magical mystery tour, thanks to bungling London ambulance drivers. Blindly trusting their sat-nav device, the ambulance crew took the patient to a hospital on the outskirts of Manchester, 200 miles away, when they were supposed to travel a mere 12 miles to Brentwood, Essex.
  
• Doncaster man Robert Jones had the shock of his life when he found his BMW 5-series teetering on the edge of a steep drop. Following instructions from his sat-nav, the professional driver found himself on a narrow pedestrian lane in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. The 43-year old is due to appear in court on a charge of driving without due care and attention.
  
• Redditch woman Paula Ceely cheated death en route to her boyfriend's house in Wales. Her sat-nav system took her to a large metal gate. Certain that this was the correct route, she opened the gate and, moments later, found herself in the path of a railway train. She jumped out of the way as the train smashed into her Renault Clio and carried it down the track. 'I'll never use a sat-nav again,' she told the Daily Telegraph.
  

Smart advice for sat-nav users

1) Don't be a sucker - Theft of portable GPS devices is a fast-growing crime. Don't leave your sat-nav on show in your vehicle and don't advertise the fact you've got one - use a screen wipe to erase the tell-tale circles left by the suction cup on the inside of your windscreen.

2) Know where you're going - There are five towns called Springfield in the state of Wisconsin alone, and over 30 Springfields across the USA. A sat-nav is a clever box of tricks but it's no substitute for common sense. It's worth checking online or consulting an atlas before planning a route. Use a postal code or zip code, if you have it. It's the simplest way to find an address, and you're less likely to make a mistake.

3) Keep your GPS device updated - Most sat-navs can be updated by connecting them to your PC and downloading new map data from the Internet. Do this regularly and you won't be thrown by roundabouts that appear from nowhere and industrial estates that used to be cul-de-sacs.

4) Check what you type - A 'D' looks quite a lot like a 'P'. But if you end up in Dorchester, when you want to be in Porchester, you'll be 102 miles from where you're supposed to be.

5) Don't set your home address as a destination - Don't let tragedy follow misfortune. If your sat-nav does get lost or stolen when you are miles from home, you risk getting burgled if you lead thieves back to your front door. Your home town should suffice as an end address (you probably know the route home from there anyway).

I followed a 38 tonne artic down increasingly narrow lanes in Lincolnshire until we came to a stone bridge which was too low for him to get under. The only way out was to back up for about a mile

Fortunately I was able to squeeze past him and continue on my way

5) Don't set your home address as a destination - Don't let tragedy follow misfortune. If your sat-nav does get lost or stolen when you are miles from home, you risk getting burgled if you lead thieves back to your front door. Your home town should suffice as an end address (you probably know the route home from there anyway).

Anyone who nicks my satnav will discover that I live in the local supermarket car park

I do not have sat-nav, neither do I intend to get one!

I dont even have a car!!!

Just a motorbike.

However, I have been considering installing an ashtray.

I have magic shoes.

When drunk they find their way home even if I can't remember a thing about it in the morning.

Must have been covered with pixie dust by mistake in the Clark's factory.

The point is probably mute!

I believe it's likely the whole GPS network is in danger of failing in the next few years. The American service in charge of updating the satelites are running about 3 years behind and don't have sufficient funds to do the job.

The network consists of about 30 odd satelites with about 24 needed to cover the planet. They are now decades old and starting to fail and are not being replaced fast enough

Prophet of doom OC?

I have magic shoes.

When drunk they find their way home even if I can't remember a thing about it in the morning.

Must have been covered with pixie dust by mistake in the Clark's factory.

What do you give your shoes to make them drunk?

/ Priceless

I have magic shoes.

When drunk they find their way home even if I can't remember a thing about it in the morning.

Must have been covered with pixie dust by mistake in the Clark's factory.

What do you give your shoes to make them drunk?

/ Priceless

Uppers.

Prophet of doom OC?

Just repeating something I heard an "expert" say on the tube the other day.

I followed a 38 tonne artic down increasingly narrow lanes in Lincolnshire until we came to a stone bridge which was too low for him to get under...

I see you met up with this lorry driver:

A lorry driver was driving along on a country road.

A sign came up that read ' Low Bridge Ahead.'

Before he realised it, the bridge was directly ahead and he got stuck under it.

Cars are backed up for miles.

Finally, a police car comes up.

The policeman got out of his car and walked to the lorry's cab

And said to the driver,

'Got stuck, eh?'

The lorry driver said, 'No, I was delivering this bridge and ran out of petrol!'

Source: answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080528133905AALYGrc

--

Maestro

I have magic shoes.

When drunk they find their way home even if I can't remember a thing about it in the morning.

Must have been covered with pixie dust by mistake in the Clark's factory.

What do you give your shoes to make them drunk?

/ Priceless

I lace them with drink until tight

Anyone who would do that is a real heel without a sole!

Just because the tongue is hanging out doesn't mean they need polishing off with hard liquor and walked all over.

About 95% of Seoul taxis have satnav which is really useful as 99% of Seoul taxi drivers have never been to Seoul before in their lives.

Fortunately Seoul has a really good subway system and all the driver has to do is follow the tracks.

Fortunately Seoul has a really good subway system and all the driver has to do is follow the tracks.

Wouldn't that involve some highly un-orthodox sub-teranean driving?

Fortunately Seoul has a really good subway system and all the driver has to do is follow the tracks.

Wouldn't that involve some highly un-orthodox sub-teranean driving?

The driver of the subway train?

Not the taxi driver?

The standard of MOD is definitely improving.

About 95% of Seoul taxis have satnav which is really useful as 99% of Seoul taxi drivers have never been to Seoul before in their lives.

I always get a chuckle watching taxi drivers drive right past me because they are following their gps to my house.

My Garmin is crazy, s'posed to be best, dunno 'bout dat.

Suggests turning onto an elevated freeway from road underneath.

I bought to show my gal from Philippines, how to get around Auckland, it gets her lost........LOL

The pedestrian mode is quite good in the main, getting around the city.

It sends one miles in the wrong direction at times.

Better off having WiFi and using Google Earth, ya see the picture of ones destination.

NZ is one of the first counties totally mapped using pix.

My Garmin is crazy, s'posed to be best, dunno 'bout dat.

Suggests turning onto an elevated freeway from road underneath.

I bought to show my gal from Philippines, how to get around Auckland, it gets her lost........LOL

The pedestrian mode is quite good in the main, getting around the city.

It sends one miles in the wrong direction at times.

Better off having WiFi and using Google Earth, ya see the picture of ones destination.

NZ is one of the first counties totally mapped using pix.

That's 'cos there's only three houses among the hundred million sheep

My navi story...last year in Germany. First time for me in a rented car

Our headoffice is in Nuremberg. I get in the evening in the car, want to go to the hotel. Enter housenumber...hmm....no idea..next. Street...hmmmm...something with Europa.......ah.....Europaplatz. That must be it. click and go.

half our later (and I knew this frickin hotel is just 5 minutes away) I end up somewhere in Nuremberg and the Navi declares mission accomplished

Go to a gas station and ask. After long thinking the lady busts out laughing...the hotel is in Fuerth. Not in Nuremberg. The city limit is between those 5 minutes from the office to the hotel. If you don't know that....no way to find your way back.

My Garmin is crazy, s'posed to be best, dunno 'bout dat.

Suggests turning onto an elevated freeway from road underneath.

I bought to show my gal from Philippines, how to get around Auckland, it gets her lost........LOL

The pedestrian mode is quite good in the main, getting around the city.

It sends one miles in the wrong direction at times.

Better off having WiFi and using Google Earth, ya see the picture of ones destination.

NZ is one of the first counties totally mapped using pix.

That's 'cos there's only three houses among the hundred million sheep

Reckon ya betta get ya GPS out and look for safer roads.

The onr yer on now is thin ice.......

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.........

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........ too