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

  • UK government calls satnav summit to tackle mapping problems
    March 1, 2012
    UK local transport minister, Norman Baker has announced he will host the governments first 'satnav summit' early in March to thrash out solutions to end the misery caused when lorry and car drivers follow out of date directions from their satnavs.
  • Road safety move for young drivers
    April 11, 2024
    A new road safety focus for young drivers will save lives
  • On the beach
    December 24, 2015
    Two drivers in the UK have found to their cost that driving on a beach is not the cleverest thing to do. One driver of a Land Rover put his faith in his GPS and unquestioningly followed its directions, using a stretch of sand as a short cut. However his journey turned out to be somewhat delayed when the car became stuck in the sand and the tide came in, leaving the Land Rover awash.
  • Summer is here and so bears, moose and other animals on the road
    July 9, 2015
    Summertime, both north and south of the equator, brings more tourists onto the world’s roads that run through some of the planet’s most beautiful parks and nature reserves.