Map Reading Skills

In Belgium a pensioner planning to drive 61km to a train station to pick up a friend made a somewhat longer journey than expected. The woman followed the advice of her satellite navigation system, which directed her through six countries in all and she ended up in Zagreb in Croatia, 1,440km from her original starting point. Despite seeing road signs in dierent languages, having to stop to refuel on a number of occasions and even parking in a roadside rest-stop for a sleep in her car, the woma
April 23, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
In Belgium a pensioner planning to  drive 61km to a train station to pick  up a friend made a somewhat  longer journey than expected. The  woman followed the advice of her  satellite navigation system, which  directed her through six countries  in all and she ended up in Zagreb  in Croatia, 1,440km from her  original starting point. Despite  seeing road signs in dierent  languages, having to stop to refuel  on a number of occasions and even  parking in a roadside rest-stop for a  sleep in her car, the woman was  not aware she had gone astray. Her  son, worried at her absence, had in  the meantime called police that  she was missing and a search had  commenced in Belgium. When she  realised her mistake on arriving in  Zagreb she was able to contact her  son and the search was called off. She did however have to drive  home another 1,440km. It is not  clear if she has bought a new  satellite navigation device, learned  to program the existing unit or  simply gone back to using a map.

Related Content

  • Zipping up road lanes
    September 28, 2018
    QMB has a Lindsay Road Zipper on duty near Montreal. World Highways deputy editor David Arminas climbed aboard As vice president of Canadian barrier specialist QMB, based in Laval, Quebec, Marc-Andre Seguin is sanguine about the future for moveable barriers. On the one hand, it looks good. The oft-stated advantage of moveable barriers is that the systems are cheaper to install than adding a lane or two to a highway or bridge. Directional changes to lanes can boost volume on a road without disrupting tra
    Read More
  • Brake and Direct Line survey: UK drivers flout traffic laws
    April 28, 2015
    Half of UK drivers in a recent survey admitted to breaking traffic laws and half of these drivers said they did it with intention. Of the drivers who willingly broke the law, half acknowledged they did it because they believed there was little chance of getting caught, or they simply did not agree the law and saw no reason to obey. Road safety charity Brake and vehicle insurance company Direct Line said the survey reveals a worrying attitude by many road users toward safety on highways. Brake said that U
    Read More
  • Carry on Movin’ On - Michelin’s mobility event
    October 15, 2018
    Many of the great and the good in the global mobility sector gathered at this year’s Movin’ On event in Montreal. Measured regulation of technologies and safety issues were major themes, reports David Arminas Autonomous vehicles, platooning, smart intersections and safety – these were the talking points over two and half days of the Movin’ On event in Montreal. Everyone in the mobility sector is at the same point, trying to see what mobility will look like in the future. Apparent at the event was just
    Read More
  • Open and shut case
    February 21, 2012
    Two British police officers were surprised to see a woman driving her car with the bonnet (hood) open. They stopped the woman who explained that the bonnet was faulty and that she was taking the car to a garage to be repaired. She had been squinting through a small 100mm high gap between the dashboard and bonnet as she drove her car to the garage. The incident was recorded by police in the UK county of Dorset where the authorities have been cracking down on bad driving. In another case, police stopped a man
    Read More

Highlighted Content