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

  • Questions over effect of tough sentences for driving offenders
    June 17, 2014
    A UK academic claims that research shows higher prison sentences are unlikely to deter death by driving offences. University of Leicester professor Sally Kyd Cunningham suggests new laws from the UK Government could fail as a deterrent to crimes committed while driving. In the wake of the Government’s recent announcement of a comprehensive review of driving offences and penalties, an academic from the University of Leicester has argued that higher prison sentences could fail to act as a deterrent against de
  • Implementing road user charging
    February 14, 2012
    Oregon Department of Transportation's James Whitty spoke with Jason Barnes on the state's progress with VMT fee-based charging
  • Alcohol interlocks for vehicles could cut crashes in Europe?
    February 26, 2018
    There have been calls for mandatory alcohol interlocks in vans, lorries and buses across the EU. This follows the publishing of a new report which shows that more than 5000 deaths/year in the EU are still caused by drink-driving. As a result, member States have been asked to increase enforcement and introduce rehabilitation programmes for drink-driving offenders. The devices should be fitted in all new professional vehicles and also retrofitted to cars used by repeat drink-driving offenders, according to
  • Speed detection
    March 17, 2014
    The authorities in Lithuania have installed up to 150 speed cameras to help monitor drivers on the country’s road network. This system has proven effective at encouraging locals to respect speed limits, but foreign drivers are not always aware of the speed restrictions and often leave the country before the authorities are able to catch them. With only a number of Lithuania’s neighbouring countries having bilateral agreements over driving offences, this means some drivers escape without charge.