.. to think people who do not have a map in their car and rely on satnav are fools...

[bergentulip]

......... I await the flaming

yanbu

yeah, because screaming arguments about missed junctions and wrong round-a-bout exits on long journeys are such fun

I will elaborate with an example.

I recently went to the Brecon Beacons and a group of us had to meet up with two latecomers, coming in their two cars.

Their fault for sleeping in they were late, but we went off to have fun in the middle of nowhere, some carpark next to something or other was the meeting point. At one point one of us had a conversation with one of them, which went something like this

us "well, where are you at the moment?"
friend in car "I don't know"
us "are you in Wales yet?"
friend "I don't know"
"How can you not know?"
"well, I just drove along the M4 for a while and then when I did not know where I was going I put in the postcode to the nearest tescos (she works for tescos so had abook or something?)"
"well, how can we direct you here then?"
"what's postcode of where you are?"
"there isn't one, it's a carpark on a hill"
"but what's the postcode"
"don't you have a map?"
"no"
"didn't you print off directions to where we are staying?"
"no"
ummm....
"what's the postcode for the place we are staying, I'll go there then"
"THERE's NO POSTCODE....... " or at least, that postcode covers an area of about a mile. aaarggh.....

Coupled with many reported incidents of people driving off cliffs because the blindly follow directions of little person in box on dashboard, and, and, and..... what does everyone using just their satnav do when they hit roadworks, or a jam,?
I personally look at my map and work out another route, if necessary. I am in control of my journey basically. And if I mess up, I can find the street I am on again, sort it out.

I think all satnavs should be destroyed basically, and that people should learn to read maps again!

YANBU

But of course a number of people seem unable to use a simple map.....My bugbear is people who can't manage to follow a simple map to get to places (on foot) in London - or who need maps sent to them for every poxy off-site meeting because "100m to the Left of the tube station" is beyond them! An A-Z is a fact of life in London!

yeah, but froggy, would you not rather have a map to actually know where you are in relation to other places and roads, in case something unforeseen happens on the journey, and you have to detour?

I posted this thread a while back and am now ashamed to admit that I have purchased one!!!

A-Z's are great!!! I love them
I had one in my handbag at all times when I lived in London!

I was listening to this debate of R5 this morning, along with online maps killing off our national heritage.

I love real maps - can spend ages looking at them - but I also value online maps and my satnav.

I don't see why people have to take a stand for one of the other - they are all great!

I thought SatNavs adjusted themselves if you have to divert from the rourte for roadworks, etc?

I have a satnav and also a map. I have learnt not to rely on my satnav!

However, with my job, I often have to travel to unfamiliar places, and reading a map whilst driving on my own is often impossible - especially when it's dark, so in those instances the satnav is invaluable.

I just don't trust it!

If I'm really worried about a journey I also look up and print off a route/itinerary from The AA's Route Planner.

So YANBU!

aaah, Gordon, you got there first. Missed that post! Much funnier op than mine.

Point blank, matter of fact "they just send you into fields anyway"... love it.

Kerrymum, no idea. But apparently it has happened. I have seen a photo in a paper once of a car balancing precariously off the end of a half finished bridge somewhere, because they had just followed their satnav. Clearly they weren't really looking at the road, or they were just plain stupid. Really.

Last year some mupppet ambulance drivers taking a patient from Essex to London ended up in Manchester, following SatNav.

Yes I am now at the fact I have purchased one. Yet to try it out but with a v grumpy toddler in the back I can't afford to wasted time looking at a map.

But I do have a map in the car as well!

Recent examples of sat nav blunders include the Syrian lorry driver transporting luxury cars from Turkey to Gibraltar who ended up in Skegness because his system was confused by the Rock's status as part of the UK.

Meanwhile in Gillingham, Dorset, four actors from a touring theatre company had to be rescued from the roof of their pink Mercedes van after their sat nav directed them through a flooded ford

quite old link but the point still stands

I can see their lure. Once drove to a meeting in a company car that had a satnav in it, got there fine, but the scary thing was that I really did not know where I was in relation to anywhere else once I was at the destination.
I mean, I knew what county I was in, but not where the nearest city was, how many miles to other towns etc.... the motorway etc....

It just kind of sucks you in. Very dangerous!!

i did post a reply but its vanished!! so i will repeat just incase.

we do have a map but i refuse to read it anymore after countless bollockings for not being able to find a specific place on the map in 5 seconds. for me satnav is a godsend.

No to satnav

Yes to maps and reading road signs

2 satnav "incidents" that I know about:

1. Driver in the dark was told by satnav to turn left at a level crossing onto the railway. The satnav did not "know" there was railway line there, treated it a s a junction. Car got stuck on the railway. Luckily the driver got out;luckily the train stopped.

1. My brother insisted on using his satnav when he was driving to Germany with my dh and my father. It gave him directions to the wrong station for the Eurotunnel despite my dh telling him it was the wrong station (db preferred to believe his satnav rather than dh - eben though dh has known the area for 30 years, db lives hundreds of miles away).

oh I love proper maps too.

dh and I snurk at people with satnavs

I completely agree with the OP. When on holiday recently with a group of friends, DH, DD and I relied upon a map whilst some friends relied upon satnav. Whilst we were heading off to our next stop (we were in RV's), our friends, who were behind us, took a turning. We wondered if we were going the wrong way but then as we were heading south (as we should have been), we saw them on the opposite carriageway heading north.... Maps, if you have a good map reader, are far better.

We used to have a sat nav though. It used to say "take the next left turn". We'd take the next turn and it would then say "make a U-turn now". Grrrr!

Oh! And another thing!! - I know, I'll go away in a minute and do something else, promise! - when people have a satnav on their windscreen, it looks like a police secret speed camera in some lights and it scares the beejeezus out of me!

Another reason to dislike them!

yanbu.

i just don't 'get' satnavs.

DH has one.

the time it takes him to get it programmed and going, i can find where we need to go on the map.

it has to be updated all the time, and it's also wrong sometimes.

they just seem like a PITA to me.

worse than that, as a former climber and hillwalker, you see all the time the serious problems people can get into that could have been avoided with a map, a compass and a cheap or free short orienteering course.

If you are driving with no "co-pilot" to map read for you sat-nav can be very useful particularly in cities where you simply can't pull over to recheck the map all the time or to read the next bit of your printed off routeplan..

I would favour a combination of both as the ideal navigation method.

Having borrowed a sat-nav to try we will be getting one soon as it saves a build up of tension between dh and I caused apparently by my crap map reading and inability to decide whether to come off the motorway at a different junction to that which the map indicates, with only 3 seconds notice of the possible deviation.

the sat nave definitely has its place. but to me, there're more of a compliment to a map than something i'd rely on exclusively.

i used to use mapquest to get written instructions as well, but haven't done that in a while.