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Council erects sign that tells drivers: Don't trust your satnav
Last updated at 22:52pm on 27.08.07In the village of St Hilary, a succession of trusting lorry drivers have followed their satnav down a narrow, bendy lane - only to find they are stuck.
But there's help on the way - and not in the form of a tow truck. Instead, the authorities have put up a sign warning drivers not to believe everything their satellite navigation tells them.
Traffic engineer Mark Simpson, who designed the sign, said: "We've had a series of problems with drivers getting into trouble by trusting their satnav - and we needed to do something about it. I hope my sign should do the trick.
"Satnav can be a wonderful tool for drivers but it does have dangers."
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Particularly aimed at foreign lorry drivers, who can't read warnings telling them the road is unsuitable for HGVs, his sign shows a satellite flying above a lorry, with a red warning bar through it.
Four have gone up near St Hilary, in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales.
There, satnav has instructed drivers to use the narrow lane through the village as a short cut between the M4 and Cardiff airport, rather than sending them along the main road.
Mr Simpson, 36, said: "More than a dozen or so heavy trucks have got stuck in lane in the past few months.
'It has led to huge traffic jams as the lorry drivers try to manoeuvre themselves out of the lane - sometimes taking as long as two hours."
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Mr Simpson, who works for the Vale of Glamorgan council, added: "It can send them on the most direct routes which turn out to be narrow roads completely unsuitable for heavy and long lorries.
"The foreign drivers were ignoring the previous signs so I needed to design a pictorial sign which everyone could understand."
The Welsh Assembly gave permission for the signs to be trialled for a year.
Mr Simpson, who hopes it will be copied in other danger spots, has written to haulage associations suggesting they circulate the design to members.
The answer: But will motorists understand the new sign?
Reader views (8)
Grrr, more signs to clutter up our towns.
- Trevor, Telford
Surely a much better idea would be a width restriction at the start of the lane, such that any HGV that would get stuck further along can't get past the start!
I'd also suggest that foreign lorry drivers should be made aware that in England, the language is English. If they can't read our signs they are not safe on our roads, and they should be banned from driving here when they cause traffic chaos.
- Nigel, London
Wouldn't it be more sensible to just contact the satnav companies to tell them? Or what about signs with width / length restrictions which we see all the time.
- Sean, London
1. This sign looks like a satellite weapon destroying a lorry.
2. Lorry drivers are too busy looking at their sat navs to see the sign.
- John Evans, London, U.K.
Of course, they could always make the lorries narrower!
- Matthew, London
1: A prohibition sign should be used instead of a "not suitable for HGV". This would also allow police to fine intruders.
2: More modern satnav allow users to say what kind of vehicle they are driving and the driving instructions will reflect this.
3: All sat nav equipments declare that road signs have priority over anything the sat nav says.
4: Signs should be designed and accepted by the Highway Agency and not individuals. Otherwise, anarchy will prevail.
- Pascal, North Yorkshire
Yes it is silly, why don't they just confiscate the lorries then 40 ton lorries wouldn't try to use unsuitable routes.
- Fred, London
This is just silly. Why don't they just make the lane wider to accommodate the lorries?
- Threaded, Roskilde, Denmark
