A Cheap Satnav System Is Not Omniscient – Have A Look At These Examples
A cheap satnav system is, more and more, something which is found in every motorized vehicle and is something which many drivers have come to rely on to lead them on their itinerary. Sometimes, however, drivers put too much faith in machinery and abdicate answerability completely to the computerized creation on the dashboard. The following examples show what can develop when a driver forgets who is actually in charge of the vehicle.
In one illustration, a well-known bunch of armed thieves were brought to justice because the getaway driver used his satnav to check out pending locations of bank raids. Adrian Johnson added the addresses of a dozen banks into the device’s places of interest when the band were planning their next job. When the police arrested him during a final raid, his tom-tom satnav was used as substantiation to link him and the band to previous robberies. The company were, in the end, locked up for a total of 71 years for a spree of 21 robberies. After the trial, flying squad Detective Inspector Terry Wilson led the investigation said:” there is no better evidence when you arrest somebody for a linked series of robberies locations around the country, and the substantiation was well beyond our expectations.”
Sometimes a cheap satnav system can get confused as to the actual nature of the road. Lorry driver Stephen Ablett got caught between two walls when his satnav system sent him down the muddy country lane. The 47-year-old decided to have faith in the navigational instrument despite a road sign warning of hazard to heavy vehicles. The 17.5 ton truck became jammed, and he could not reverse back up the slope because of soggy clay. He had to spend the night in his wagon, missing his son’s 18th birthday, and only escaped the morning after when rain washed away the mud.
Another professional driver left with egg on his face after following the suggestion of a cheap satnav was a Norfolk cabbie who followed his satnav systems advice to head up a river. The driver kept going for almost 200 yards before the cab, surprisingly enough, became grounded in the muddy riverbed. The proprietor of the taxi firm said ” he was in the car with his trousers rolled up. Fish were swimming around the headlights.” Finally, a tractor had to be called to pull the Volkswagen taxi out of the river near Swaffham, in Norfolk.
The problems a cheap satnav system can cause periodically take on an international flavour. The Belgian truck driver put the blame on his satnav system after he left a ?20,000 trail of ruination in Wadebridge. His satnav system directed him into an ill-suited cul-de-sac. Panicking, the unlucky trucker put his foot down and concluded his turning manoeuvre by driving over a mini roundabout, trapping a car under his lorry, and destroying five other vehicles. British drivers in Europe have also had their problems – a club of personnel on a Christmas excursion to France ended up in the wrong country after their cheap satnav sidetracked the coach more than seven hours in the wrong direction. Their target was the French city of Lille, but the 50 members of the company’s social club ended up 98 miles away in the village of the selfsame name in Belgium. After the driver realised his mistake and turned round, the club had just over two hours to do their Christmas shopping before the shops closed and they had to go back.
George Maxwell is a technology user and enthusiast, and enjoys sharing his knowledge and experience with others who may be nervous of technology or struggle to see the advantages of keeping up to date.
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