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Satellite Navigation a Real Crackpot!

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the asking-for-directions dept.

debest writes "What happens when your satellite navigation system in your car gives you bad advice on which road you should take? In Britain, these systems have been directing drivers down a road near the (aptly named) town of Crackpot that is strewn with boulders and has an unprotected 100ft dropoff on one side! The locals are worried someone's going to go off the edge."

5 of 230 comments (clear)

  1. They really have 2 options: by temojen · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1) Put up a sign reading "Don't go down this road, even if your GPS tells you to; Dangerous conditions ahead".

    2) Stabilize the slope above and install a guard rail.

    1. Re:They really have 2 options: by Kevertje · · Score: 2, Insightful

      1) good idea - but they're going to also need to provide directions for an alternate route

      Why would that be necessary? The people are only going there because their GPS device is telling them to. One of the nice things of GPS devices is that they recalculate your route when you deviate from it.

      Now, if the problem was related to route planners instead of GPS, you'd have a point.

  2. Too obvious to be a solution by PacoHernandez · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is there a reason that they haven't put a railing on the "unprotected 100ft dropoff" edge?

  3. take the American approach by bhalter80 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I believe this is why most GPS in car nav systems have a click through disclaimer every time it starts saying that while these are valid directiosn they are not necessarily the best/fastest/safest way from A -> B and that you use them at your own peril.

    This is what happens when people rely too much on nifty gadgets and stop using basic skills like map reading. The map may sill take you down this road but from what I've seen people get all googlyeyed in front of any video display and lose basic reasoning skill, like that which would prompt somoene to fidgit with the GPS for a minute and find an alternate route as this one seems undrivable.

  4. Hmmm... I wonder. by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 2, Insightful

    City: Silent Hill, Toluca County, West Virginia.

    Hey, what's that cliff doing in the middle of the roaaAAAAAAAAAAAAA