Is there a sat nav that has a setting to avoid narrow country roads? Or a trick to make mine avoid them!?

[Bagelsandbrie]

Just that really.

After another horrific journey where I had to reverse for about a mile as there was no passing place I’m feeling pretty traumatised.

I live in South Norfolk and we have a lot of very narrow one lane country roads and I have a new Kia with built in sat nav - without fail every time I use it it takes me down the most obscure routes, often turning off a lovely A road to take me down a 3 mile stretch of dirt road only to rejoin the same A road later on…!

Obviously I do check the route beforehand but sometimes I get pretty lost, I’m human.

There is a setting to avoid motorways but no setting I can see to stick to A roads and main roads! Am i missing a trick?

Is there a way to do this or does anyone have an amazing sat nav / app that allows me to do this?!

Watching for advice. Stupid Google maps had me turn off a lovely A road and drive up a farm track to return to A road shortly before I learned to distrust it.

Waze has an "avoid unpaved roads" setting but not sure if that would capture all the roads you're looking to avoid.

Which app are you currently using? I know Co-Pilot (subscription) and Waze (free) can do this to an extent.

Have Waze on my phone at the moment so can check in the settings...

With Waze, you can set it to avoid unpaved roads:
Tap My Waze
Tap the settings cog symbol
Select Navigation
Tap Unpaved Roads and choose from Allow, Don't Allow and Avoid Long Ones

I'll come back with what Co-Pilot lets you do. Think it gives you some more options, from memory

Following. I despite satnavs' habit of taking you down a single-lane road cutting between one A road and another to shave 90 theoretical seconds off travel time...

I have this problem too around here.
Sadly I just tend to ignore it and stay on the main road if the road it’s trying to get me to turn down has one of those signs saying it’s narrow, or unsuitable for HGVs or something. I like looking on my phone maps app first as it shows a few different route options

I don't crisply think the unpaved roads setting will do what OP wants as that literally just avoids dirt track type "roads" as far as I'm aware. Happy to be corrected.

I'd like to know this,we live in Norfolk too and frequently encounter narrow roads with the sat nav.

Screenshot for preferences that Co-Pilot lets you set attached. You can choose from strongly favour, favour, neutral, avoid and strongly avoid.

Get there by choosing Settings - > Vehicle Routing Profiles - > Tap Car then Edit or Create Custom - > Road preferences

If you set Secondary Roads to strongly avoid that might do the trick

Thank you all so much.

I am going to download Waze and co pilot apps and have a play with the settings. Co pilot looks potentially more the thing as a lot of the roads aren’t dirt roads but basically roads that are roads at a push but lined with ditches either side and only room enough for one car!

I’m glad I’m not the only one struggling with this. Surely there must be a gap in the market / development for sat nav people to sort this!

When sat navs first came out, they would direct everyone down a tiny lane near us, with no passing places, grass growing in the middle of the road and steep banks, so if you met another car, one of you was backing up for a long way. After a while, satnavs changed, but it seems they've changed back again.

The early sat navs ran off the US military satellites and it was a source of comfort to me that should we ever be invaded by the Yanks, they would have difficulty getting to my village if they followed their sat nav.

I vaguely remember some talk a few years back of the satellites swapping over from US military to commercial, but could be wrong

I think sat navs are still in the slowly adding features in response to demand mode

Some have options for campervans and motorhomes that allow you to specify your vehicle width and avoid small roads. Not sure which ones it Google motorhome satnav.

@Level75

Some have options for campervans and motorhomes that allow you to specify your vehicle width and avoid small roads. Not sure which ones it Google motorhome satnav.

I think I need one that allows me to say my car is the size of a double decker bus. Just to be safe.

Waze seems to know which are the ‘main lanes’ with quite a few passing places and wide bits, and which are the tiny ones that are so tight it’s slower than going the longer way. So I’d try Waze, and see if that helps.

Interesting, I have the opposite problem, my car will send me on a 50 mile journey to avoid 5 miles of country lanes!

Maybe you should investigate maps intended for HGVs - although they can be pricey. Which is why the more price-sensitive HGV drivers just rely on car ones (with "hilarious" results).

I really want this too. We have to drive hire cats when travelling for work and I ended up in tears swearing at the sat nav last week when it took me down a tiny single track road in a heavy rainstorm with hardly any visibility, in an unfamiliar car (obviously it was unaware of all of these issues 😂).

@BuffySummersReportingforSanity

Following. I despite satnavs' habit of taking you down a single-lane road cutting between one A road and another to shave 90 theoretical seconds off travel time...

Oh FFS. I also despise autocorrect's habit of thinking it knows what I want to say better than I do.

I strongly dislike Sat Navs.

I will use google maps (or even a road atlas) before I set off to check recommended routes.
I might print out the route or map.
I will follow where I am on the map on the interactive map in the car.

No way will I just blindly follow where 'the computer says'.

I am relieved to hear I am not the only person who has this problem! I have given up using the sat nav because it always does this.
Plus instructing me to turn "half left" or to detour through city centre one way systems to avoid a five minute queue on the motorway!

@DGRossetti

Maybe you should investigate maps intended for HGVs - although they can be pricey. Which is why the more price-sensitive HGV drivers just rely on car ones (with "hilarious" results).

Goodness yes. I live near a road whose "not suitable for HGVs" sign is entirely obscured by a bush 🙄. Every week, and I mean wvery week it is shut for a period of time whele and HGV is bloody stuck on it

@Level75

Some have options for campervans and motorhomes that allow you to specify your vehicle width and avoid small roads. Not sure which ones it Google motorhome satnav.

Definitely not Waze or Google maps! We have resorted to paper atlases for now and I tell dp the town and road number to aim for and ON NO ACCOUNT turn off to a housing estate or dirt track. So frustrating!

I live near a road whose "not suitable for HGVs" sign is entirely obscured by a bush 🙄. Every week, and I mean wvery week it is shut for a period of time whele and HGV is bloody stuck on it

I know it's actually the council's problem, but it sounds like a vigilante 5 minutes with clippers might be a valuable investment.