Sat navs destroying UK roads

Since the news back in January of a take-away delivery driver being directed on to a train track via his sat-nav device, there has been a slew of other similar news alerting British drivers to the supposed 'dangers' and negative effects of over-relying on sat-nav devices.

The Telegraph reported earlier this week that reports of lorries getting stuck in country lanes and under low bridges after following sat nav directions are increasingly commonplace.

Keep your wits about you

And Network Rail bosses are blaming sat navs for damage and disruption to the tune of £10 million a year , causing 5,000 hours of delays.

PR man PJ Taylor from Network Rail said: "Sat navs are a great tool but they are not an alternative for keeping your wits about you and obeying the rules of the road."

TechRadar spoke to a TomTom rep earlier today who reminded us that the company's line was thus:

"Users of all satellite navigation devices should always follow road signs and look out for potential hazards, just as they would if they were not using a GPS device.

"With regard to HGVs and larger vehicles, TomTom devices are really designed for use in a car. TomTom's mapping companies provide data based on car navigation and therefore drivers of HGVs should seek specialist satellite navigation solutions for use in their vehicle to avoid travelling down unsuitable roads.

Maps regularly updated

Our TomTom rep also stressed that the company offers a map improvement facility called 'Map Share', which "allows drivers to make map corrections immediately on their devices [which] can then be uploaded via the TomTom website to be shared with other users, and also to feed back to TomTom's mapping division".

One thing to perhaps consider is this: if you should find yourself driving down a train-track into a possibly fatal collision with a high-speed mainline train some time soon, you may well be guilty of over-reliance on your sat nav.

Or just a rubbish driver.