A lack of direction

THE simple solution to those car and lorry drivers sent down unsuitable roads by sat-navs would be to ban these gadgets. People managed perfectly well to get from A to B in a not-too-distant era, when they had to rely on basic geography and simple map-reading.

By The Newsroom

Published 6th Jan 2012, 11:21 BST

Given this is clearly not an option open to Transport Minister Norman Baker ahead of his “sat-nav summit”, his challenge will be to find some other solution at a time when the technology does not appear to be able to keep up with changes to the road layout, never mind long-standing hazards posed by low bridges or sharp bends. Perhaps the manufacturers need to be penalised, financially, if their sat-nav is responsible for an accident?

Furthermore, Mr Baker needs to implore local authorities to provide more up-to-date signs, and ensure the driving test is sufficiently robust so that learners are not dependent on sat-navs from the moment they take to the roads.

The Minister’s intention is sound, but his greater challenge is devising a policy that heads off in the right direction. As such, it can only be hoped that those attending his get-together leave their sat-navs at home.

Norman Baker People