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First 'ignore your sat nav' roadsigns go up
Last updated at 19:22pm on 19.02.07
Roadsigns: The computer isn't always right
If lorry drivers can tear their eyes away from the satellite navigation system while approaching the village of Exton, they could well save themselves hours of trouble.
There at the side of the road are the first signs in the country specifically warning them to ignore the satnav.
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Owing to a fault in the electronic information system, many drivers are sent through the Hampshire hamlet only to find the lane narrows to 6ft and they get stuck.
Villagers hope that the signs will spare them, and HGV drivers, any further grief, and stop the destruction of hedgerows and verges in Beacon Hill Lane.
Brian Thorpe-Tracey, whose property borders the lane, said he had regularly had to rebuild cobbled kerbs as well as help stuck vans to reverse.
The 49-year-old company director said: 'The problem mushroomed overnight with the advent of satnav.
'About two years ago we noticed a real increase in drivers using the lane. Vehicles are getting stuck and having to reverse back up, damaging the wall and fence. There's even a piece of metal embedded 12ft up in a tree which looks like it's come off a lorry.
'When I've asked drivers why they are using the lane they say they are just following satnav.
'One morning at 1.30am a flatbed truck was coming to pick up a broken-down car and it took out eight metal posts that were holding together a verge.'
Villagers decided they had suffered enough last year and demanded action from the council.
Mr Thorpe-Tracey, who has lived there for 25 years, said that since the signs were put up in November last year there has been a great improvement.
A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: 'As far as we are aware these appear to be the first signs in England telling drivers to ignore satnavs.'
Traffic engineer Neville Crisp, from Winchester City Council, said:
'There were lots of problems with HGVs following their satnavs through that particular area.
'They are following their satnavs but it is totally unsuitable for them to do so.
'Presumably the drivers were using it as a cut-through.
'It was a constant problem - everybody was moaning about it.'
Reader views (2)
I think that's the problem - it doesn't flash up on the screen. The local authority holds no sway over the sat nav manufacturers and the sat nav manufacturers make the same amount of money whether they put restrictions in or not.
- Iain, Chelmsford, UK
Would it not be better to flash that warning on the sat-nav screen?
- Harvey, Bath, UK
