Are some people really this stupid?

[AndrewSchofield]

I've only ever used SatNav once when i borrowed my boss' car and it had it built-in. On my way home it told me to turn down a narrow lane which i know is completely impassible to anyone who isn't walking or in a tractor. I had no desire to use them before and definately don't want one now. I've stubmbled across many an interesting place when getting lost looking for somewhere.

We're going to get to a point where if there is ever a problem with the satelites, everyone will just stop because they don't know where they are, where they are going and, if they do still posess a map, wont know how to use it.

 

[Donkmeister]

I used to have a Garmin around 6 or 7 years ago that was great, apart from 2 things:

1) all my friends started buying brand new houses on brand new streets, and the internal map couldn't be updated... so I'd have to get them to back-track from their house to a main road and guide me in!
2) if there were two streets with the same name in the same city, it wouldn't offer you a choice. I found out that this is a lot more common than you might think!

Now I have gone back to pre-planning my route on Google Maps, keeping an atlas in the car, and if I get lost I break out my mobile phone, get my GPS position, then keep on driving (i.e. I use GPS purely for positioning, not for navigating now)

 

[Steve]

2) if there were two streets with the same name in the same city, it wouldn't offer you a choice. I found out that this is a lot more common than you might think!

That happened pre-sat nav as well, myself and a surveyor were sent to a job, supposedly in Hull. We went from Grimsby to Hull, not far but a cost of about £4 to cross the Humber.

Arrived at the street in Hull, supposedly a residential property, the street was lined with shops. Phoned office, oh sorry, its Grimsby not Hull. Back across the Humber!

 

[Shutpa]

I got lost in Devon last year and found a driver with satnav going to the same holiday site. Follow me he said and I did until he drove into a lane no wider than his car. They were waving at me to follow but I decided against it and eventually found my destination after about 20 minutes. Met the guy and his wife a few days later and she told me that they encountered another car coming the other way in the 1/4 mile long lane. With other vehicles coming in both directions the police had to be called and it took more than 2 hours to clear the lane.
Had a similar experience 2 years back when a guy's satnav didn't tell him about the Tour de France race taking place on the roads he was directed to travel on.