sat nav/GPS

came accross this article in yahoo travel.
it has been true so far.our sat nav is really helpful, but u have to use it with ur common sense. otherwise, u can be stranded anywhere. we have even came close to a cul-de sac when we were searching an address. there are times when the new road was not laid out in the GPS (err,we probably dont update that GPS at that time). and there were times also when we mistakenly took a wrong junction,instead of turning back by reverse to the correct route which we think will be shorter and take only a few minutes, the GPS gave us another route which took us more than half an hour. crazy GPS.
so, as a conclusion, u have to be wise when using it. =) dont be fooled by techology,hehe...



10 sat-nav disasters Some of the most spectacular disasters caused by satellite navigation systems - and how you can avoid having them happen to you.


Satellite navigation systems have revolutionised driving over the past decade or so, saving us time and fuel - and a whole lot of arguments with backseat drivers and map-readers too! But sometimes things can go wrong. Very wrong. Here are some of the worst sat-nav mishaps from around the globe - and some advice on how you can avoid them.



Cars and water don't mix, as a driver in Glubczyce, Poland, found out. He doggedly followed the instructions of his sat-nav - ignoring the road signs telling him that the road ahead was closed - and drove straight into the middle of a reservoir. Fortunately the man and his passengers clambered onto the roof of the car and were rescued by the emergency services.


In 2008, Syrian lorry driver Necdet Bakimci found himself stranded on a nature reserve in Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire. He was 1,600 miles from his intended destination: Gibraltar, on the southern tip of Spain. Confusingly, his sat-nav system listed Gibraltar as being in the UK (because it's a colonial outpost). Confronted with a choice of two Gibraltars, both seemingly in the British Isles, Bakimci and his cargo of luxury cars took a 3,200 mile detour.


Want to move up in the world? Then buy a car at auction. When police sold the Duchess of York's Jaguar, the lucky buyer got more than he bargained for. The car's in-built sat-nav system was programmed with the address shared by the Duchess and her daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, along with locations of some of the favourite haunts of Britain's aristocracy.


Villagers in Exton, in southern England, were so used to trucks getting stuck down a two-metre wide country lane that the council put up signs telling drivers to ignore their sat-navs and take a different route. Dozy HGV drivers who relied on their GPS devices had to reverse half a mile, causing damage to hedges and fences, in order to turn around.


Police in Victoria, Australia have urged drivers not to discard their old-fashioned maps. An increasing number of motorists have been stranded after relying on their GPS systems, getting taken on routes that are only accessible to four-wheel drive vehicles. Many parts of Australia do not have up-to-date digital mapping and sat-nav companies have been relying on data that can be up to ten years out of date.


Zhou Xia and Zhao Na Na's crime spree came to an abrupt end when they were stopped by police in Doncaster, Yorkshire. They were found carrying thousands of Euros and a number of stolen credit cards. But the most damning evidence was the sat-nav device, programmed with the addresses of all the Post Offices that they had defrauded.


State troopers in Vermont, USA have called for GPS users to exercise common sense after a series of inattentive drivers found themselves following snowmobile trails. One soldier from Fort Drum, NY, drove so deeply onto a trail that police had to use a snow tractor to drag him to safety.


A hospital patient on a ward transfer got taken on an eight-hour magical mystery tour, thanks to bungling London ambulance drivers. Blindly trusting their sat-nav device, the ambulance crew took the patient to a hospital on the outskirts of Manchester, 200 miles away, when they were supposed to travel a mere 12 miles to Brentwood, Essex.


Doncaster man Robert Jones had the shock of his life when he found his BMW 5-series teetering on the edge of a steep drop. Following instructions from his sat-nav, the professional driver found himself on a narrow pedestrian lane in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. The 43-year old is due to appear in court on a charge of driving without due care and attention.


Redditch woman Paula Ceely cheated death en route to her boyfriend's house in Wales. Her sat-nav system took her to a large metal gate. Certain that this was the correct route, she opened the gate and, moments later, found herself in the path of a railway train. She jumped out of the way as the train smashed into her Renault Clio and carried it down the track. 'I'll never use a sat-nav again,' she told the Daily Telegraph.
Smart advice for sat-nav users

1) Don't be a sucker - Theft of portable GPS devices is a fast-growing crime. Don't leave your sat-nav on show in your vehicle and don't advertise the fact you've got one - use a screen wipe to erase the tell-tale circles left by the suction cup on the inside of your windscreen.

2) Know where you're going - There are five towns called Springfield in the state of Wisconsin alone, and over 30 Springfields across the USA. A sat-nav is a clever box of tricks but it's no substitute for common sense. It's worth checking online or consulting an atlas before planning a route. Use a postal code or zip code, if you have it. It's the simplest way to find an address, and you're less likely to make a mistake.

3) Keep your GPS device updated - Most sat-navs can be updated by connecting them to your PC and downloading new map data from the Internet. Do this regularly and you won't be thrown by roundabouts that appear from nowhere and industrial estates that used to be cul-de-sacs.

4) Check what you type - A 'D' looks quite a lot like a 'P'. But if you end up in Dorchester, when you want to be in Porchester, you'll be 102 miles from where you're supposed to be.

5) Don't set your home address as a destination - Don't let tragedy follow misfortune. If your sat-nav does get lost or stolen when you are miles from home, you risk getting burgled if you lead thieves back to your front door. Your home town should suffice as an end address (you probably know the route home from there anyway).