Skip to main content

Which way now?

Drivers using GPS navigation systems are being urged not to trust their devices too closely by police forces. In the Australian state of Victoria, police are telling drivers not to throw away their maps after a series of incidents in which motorists in ordinary road cars have become stranded after following GPS directions and taking routes only accessible to four-wheel drive vehicles.
March 1, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Drivers using GPS navigation systems are being urged not to trust their devices too closely by police forces. In the Australian state of Victoria, police are telling drivers not to throw away their maps after a series of incidents in which motorists in ordinary road cars have become stranded after following GPS directions and taking routes only accessible to four-wheel drive vehicles. Similarly in the US state of Vermont, highway authorities are telling GPS users to use common sense as a number of drivers have had to call for help after getting stuck when using snowmobile trails.

Some drivers could benefit from brushing up on their geography skills, with a Syrian lorry driver having found his way to the Gibraltar Point nature reserve in the UK, 2,500km from Gibraltar on the southern tip of Spain where he was supposed to deliver a load of cars. The new owners of the cars had to wait a little longer. Meanwhile a Polish driver found that his vehicle was not amphibious, following GPS instructions that resulted in him driving into a reservoir. Luckily, the man and his passenger were rescued.

Related Content

  • Sheep might fly
    October 9, 2012
    Motorists on a major highway in Australia were delayed recently by large numbers of sheep falling into the roadway. The incident occurred near the town of Geelong when a livestock truck overturned at a highway slip road. A steady stream of the unfortunate animals then fell onto the busy Princes Highway directly below, impacting onto two vehicles in the process and halting traffic for a number of hours. The truck was carrying several hundred animals and large numbers were killed or injured as they fell onto
  • Boy racer
    September 29, 2014
    A driver in the UK recently caused something of an upset while at the wheel of his girlfriend’s VW. The lad managed to sneak onto the Brands Hatch racing circuit while a race was actually underway. The youth drove through the pits area and as security was lax, made his way onto the track. His friend, also a passenger in the vehicle, filmed the escapade while his girlfriend screamed at him to get off the track. The youth was heard on the video saying to his passengers that he would claim he had become lost w
  • Patrik Ketti on the road again with Hyundai
    February 25, 2022
    After a life-changing accident, Swedish excavator operator Patrik Ketti worked with local Hyundai* dealer Orsa Maskin to find a solution for getting back into his cab.
  • Air freight
    February 21, 2012
    In Switzerland, an Opel delivery van had to be airlifted from a mountain, following a navigation error by its driver. The driver followed the directions given by his satellite navigation system, which told him to follow a narrow track that wound slowly upwards.