Satellite Navigation a Real Crackpot! 230
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."
What to do: (Score:4, Funny)
Re:What to do: (Score:2, Funny)
What worries me.... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:What worries me.... (Score:2)
My satnav is keeps telling me to make uturns despite the fact that I'm going the fastest and shortest route to me destination. Plus the fact that uturns are illegal on that road...
Basically they're a bit naff for short distances. Going between cities is OK but I always switch mine off for the last few miles.
Re:What worries me.... (Score:2)
Re:What worries me.... (Score:2)
Which makes the whole thing kinda pointless, as the "last few miles" is where it would be most useful, if it actually worked.
Re:What worries me.... (Score:3, Informative)
In the UK, a crackpot is more traditionally someone who would be regarded as just past "eccentric". The woman with 86 cats in a one room apartment who yells at you out her window would be a "crackpot".
Stuart
Re:What worries me.... (Score:3, Informative)
as you can see crackpot is somewhere between the yellow road and the red one, presumably its sending them across the gap instead of around because it's shorter even if the track is marked as 10mph, as that's a long way around
Cooter (Score:5, Funny)
Not much different than that gas station attendant five miles back.
Re:Cooter (Score:2)
Rat Race (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Cooter (Score:2)
"The worlds worst nagivation errors!"
ugh
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Strange progress of technology (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Strange progress of technology (Score:2)
http://www.tv.com/my-mother-the-car/show/5763/sum
It's only the drivers that get people killed (Score:2)
As a driver you should never drive where (s)he can't see or at speeds that are uncontrollable. What if there's backed up traffic/accident? What if the road has been washed away or a kid is playing in the road?
Anyone killed by a GPS nav giving them guidance over a cliff deserves what they get. This is Darwinian selection at work (or if you believe God speaks to you via GPS, then it is ID).
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Strange progress of technology (Score:5, Funny)
Here's a much more informative talking car link. [wikipedia.org]
Re:Strange progress of technology (Score:5, Funny)
Scary thing is, only one of those is a redlink...
Re:Strange progress of technology (Score:2)
Re:Strange progress of technology (Score:2)
Looks like it's time for a disambig page?
Re:Strange progress of technology (Score:2)
Here's the non-affiliate [amazon.com] link.
They really have 2 options: (Score:5, Insightful)
2) Stabilize the slope above and install a guard rail.
Re:They really have 2 options: (Score:5, Informative)
2) Stabilize the slope above and install a guard rail.
1) good idea - but they're going to also need to provide directions for an alternate route
2) This sounds like a rather remote, extremely lightly travelled route - it may not be economically feasible to install a guard rail and "stabilize the slope" (which could cost tens of thousands or millions of dollars). Sounds like it is just a back-country dirt road that wasn't designed for through traffic.
Re:They really have 2 options: (Score:2)
It's either an extremely lightly traveled route, and there is no problem, or more and more people are traveling on it and it is a problem.
Just about every road in Seattle wasn't built to take that traffic it's getting but that doesn't mean people shouldn't try to improve the situation.
Re:They really have 2 options: (Score:3, Funny)
Gta style. You open the door and pull them out.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:They really have 2 options: (Score:2)
Re:They really have 2 options: (Score:2, Insightful)
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.
Re:They really have 2 options: (Score:2)
you must be new here.
btw, "But we get a lot of sales reps in posh cars coming and they get so cross" hmm, wonder what the sales reps are selling in crackpot?
Re:They really have 2 options: (Score:2)
Re:They really have 2 options: (Score:3, Informative)
Actually there there is a sign [telegraph.co.uk]. And a five-bar gate:
Re:They really have 2 options: (Score:2)
The rising cost of insurance, for drivers do don't bother to read these signs, should have the desired effect eventually.
Too obvious to be a solution (Score:5, Insightful)
Too obvious to be a solution (indeed) (Score:2)
Re:Too obvious to be a solution (Score:5, Informative)
I've holidayed in the area regularly and once you go off the A (main) and B (narrow, usually single-lane) roads, you're on moorland, bogland and are pretty much on your own. While I can't be 100% sure whether I've been down the specific track they're talking about, I have mountain-biked down a few pretty hairy tracks near Crackpot that I know I wouldn't take a car down, specifically the ones that end in a drop, rather than have one at the side...
Re:Too obvious to be a solution (Score:2)
Except possibly a real "all terrain" vehicle, which few people other than farmers are likely to have.
Re:Too obvious to be a solution (Score:2)
Re:Too obvious to be a solution (Score:5, Interesting)
In Indonesia, they deliberately leave wrecked cars in place as reminders for the following drivers. Occasionally, if such cars are not easily spotted, they're put on top of a platform on a mast, to be more visible ;-)
Re:Too obvious to be a solution (Score:2)
All the need is a sign saying:
NOT THIS WAY, YOUR GPS IS WRONG -- RTFM! (MAP!).
Unless it's the same map used by the makers of the GPS device which dosn't distinguish between minor roads and tracks.
Probably is that anyone who
best action to take... (Score:5, Funny)
It's a fair cop (Score:2)
A 100 foot drop-off will definitely take a toll on your car if you go over.
Happens all the time (Score:5, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Happens all the time (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Happens all the time (Score:5, Funny)
Nope, 'taint.
Sometimes you make it to easy (Score:2, Funny)
maybe you should try match.com, I hear that works pretty well. It must be better than your gps, at least.
Re:Happens all the time (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Happens all the time (Score:2)
Re:Happens all the time (Score:2)
Re:Happens all the time (Score:2)
So what they're saying is..... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:So what they're saying is..... (Score:2)
Get out.
Typical mapper issues (Score:4, Interesting)
1) Things change. New roads (sometimes whole communities) get built, and there is some latency in getting that updated data where it can be used by your GPS-mapper (whether in your car or on the web).
2) Driving-direction algorithims are good, but not flawless. MapQuest, for example, provides driving directions that will usually get you where you want to go, but may have you take an odd route to get there.
The bottom line: If you expect your Tom-Tom (or whatever) to magically do all of your thinking for you, you'll eventually wind up going over an 'unexpected' cliff
Re:Typical mapper issues (Score:5, Interesting)
Unfortunately their maps are filled with obvious errors, and they ignore people who correct them (it's not uncommon for roads to be 10 years out of date on their maps... they've been told - repeatedly - about these errors but each time a map upgrade comes out no fixes have been done. Add to that the fact the map upgrades are not free and TT are ripe for being murdered by the competition..)
Re:Typical mapper issues (Score:4, Interesting)
Copyright traps?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Map software problem.. (Score:5, Informative)
I have a Garmin Quest.
Re:Map software problem.. (Score:2)
Re:Map software problem.. (Score:2)
I figure I can probably find "Main Street" in a small town. I don't need a GPS to tell me that. However, I could probably use some help finding "Baker Hill Road."
That said, one of the odd tricks about roads is that if nobody lives on a road, generally the town doesn't maintain it and stops becoming a road. You can find all sorts of "us
Wow (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Wow (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Wow (Score:2)
Hypothetical conversation (Score:2, Funny)
Similar Story (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Similar Story (Score:2)
Fortunately we gave ourselves plenty of time.
Re:Similar Story (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm currently in Pueblo, CO at a test site 30 miles outside town. There's only one paved road to the facility and it's from Pueblo.
I usually fly into Denver, drove through the Springs, to Pueblo and then head out to the site. Simple trip, just get on 25-S and drive. Get off on exit 101A and drive ~30 miles.
Well, I wanted to test my new gps. It had me drive down to the Co Springs airport and then take a ~30 mile dirt road. Actually got me there quicker, but the facility keeps that gate locked
Re:Similar Story (Score:2)
Re:Similar Story (Score:2)
You'd never used this technology before, had no training in using it, don't know its limitations and your test was to rely on it? Gimme a break. You should have punched it into the GPS, pulled over, and then compared with the paper based maps. A few minutes checking over your assumption and you'd not have been anywhere near as late.
Would you pick a random web page and believe everything yo
Yeah, sure... (Score:4, Funny)
Business Opportunity ! (Score:5, Funny)
Set untarmaced roads to 1mph (Score:5, Informative)
I'm goin for it... (Score:5, Funny)
Simple Map Data problem (Score:2)
However, that will only fix things for the people who get the next version of the updated maps. Customers driving around with 4 year old maps in their built-in navigation systems will still be SOL.
So, as someone suggested,
Someone also... (Score:2)
Re:Someone also... (Score:2)
This is a...problem? (Score:4, Funny)
Crackpot not a "town" (Score:5, Interesting)
Incidently the name comes from the norse "pot" meaning hole or dip (in this case referring to the limestone rift there) and "Kraka" meaning crow. As a kid I was always told it was because they found some roman coins in a cracked pot there but I think the former is more plausible!
Anyway it was great to see Crackpot on Slashdot. I suppose next week they'll be a story about the nearby town of Hawes (which is pronounced "whores" :-)
Re:Crackpot not a "town" (Score:5, Funny)
Not only is Hawes pronoused Whores, but there is also a dairy there called "Hawes Creamery". http://archive.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/2001/4/27
Similar Issues (Score:3, Interesting)
Hertz or herts or something car rental came with a navigation system.
I thought, well this is nifty and set about setting up my destination.
It was a bit of a pain initially and I was really annoyed I didn't have more time to spend truly learning it before I actually went somewhere. Still, I pressed onward with this great technological advancement and started on my way.
I swear the damn thing tried to kill me repeatedly.
Wrong street here, one way there or just it generally shouting at me that I was going the wrong way.
I was still fairly impressed that it managed to re-calculate the route, but I gave up on it after the second time it sent me down the wrong way on a one way street.
It ended up being useful to get me close to my destination, but just wasn't responsive enough for my needs.
I'm sure it is much better now though.
OT: rambling about Seatle rental cars (Score:2)
As I recall, I chose that car company because it was conveniently located close to the ferry dock. Their car was on the way out of the country in 30 minutes.
(Canada is still another country, right?)
Map (Score:5, Informative)
I guess it's that pale-white track on the bottom left, just below the "Summer Lodge [Farm]" that was mentioned in the article, in which case no GPS system should take you down one of those - white on British OS maps (as opposed to yellow) means no tarmac. And the dotted edges of the road indeed mean "unfenced". Lovely stuff. It's even debatable whether the narrow yellow roads on that map (which mean single-track with passing places) should be used by a GPS as through routes, let alone the white ones!
Still, it reinforces the stupidity of the drivers, as there's obviously a point there, just past the farm, where the character of the road changes, and they blindly believe the GPS rather than turn back and let it find another route.
Re:Map (Score:2)
That's the thing with the consumer GPS systems I've seen; none of them include things like contour lines. They are simply 2 dimensional road maps. Not very detailed, but I'd imagine that would be by design, to keep the display easy to read while driving.
It's even debatable whether the narrow yellow roads on that map (which mean single-track with passing places) should be used by a GPS as through rout
Re:Map (Score:2)
Well, if it excluded single-track roads, it would be basically useless in some parts of Scotland (Westeross, but others too), which only have single track roads. Sometimes even without passing places (Applecross).
take the American approach (Score:2, Insightful)
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
Hmmm... I wonder. (Score:3, Insightful)
Hey, what's that cliff doing in the middle of the roaaAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Magellen Roadmate 760 (Score:4, Interesting)
DeLorme is no better. (Score:2, Interesting)
Oh, and should someone give you it as a gift, you can translate their generosity into th
Do any of these show 3D/ortho/ perspective views? (Score:2)
This think had 3D/elevation-like views. As he got closer to my destination (a hostel only about 10 minutes walk from the big hotel where the limo bus deposited me), he couldn't find the little alleyway between two narrow but longer streets. He went round and round like 4 or 5 times trying to nail the address. I
Re:Do any of these show 3D/ortho/ perspective view (Score:2)
It still sends you the wrong places though. Once I was running late for something, so I decided to just trust it. In that one 5 mile journey it tried to send me down a one-way street the wrong way as w
Re:Do any of these show 3D/ortho/ perspective view (Score:2)
And the taxi driver didn't care either. Never earned a fare that easily...
I hope for you that this was on company expense, not out of your pockets ;-)
In the end, it turned out that he'd been passing the hostel each time.
Hehe. Now I know what I'll do when my employers fires me. I'll move to Tokyo and be a taxi driver, bedazzling the naive tourists and business travelers with my snazzy GPS... ;-)
Re:Reality TV (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Reality TV (Score:2)
Maps told me to take the I405 instead of I5 to go to South Seattle from Lynnwood. FRONT PAGE NEWS!
That's actually a good idea some parts of the day. I5 backs up when it goes to 2 lanes in central Seattle.
Re:Reality TV (Score:2)
And damn, mode my OP down . . . I just took an already lame joke and totally drove it into the ground explaining it. Sad.
Re:Reality TV (Score:2)
They don't think for themselves any more, they never question the almighty computer. They throw away their pencil and paper, and rely entirely on their computer. And if the computer is wrong or not available these people may lead themselves right in to disaster. And the potential
Re:Reality TV (Score:2)
What... you believe what the website said?
Re:Reality TV (Score:3, Interesting)
And you think this is somehow a new thing? People rarely question authority figures. Witness the Milgram Experiment [wikipedia.org] which found that 65% of people will inflict fatal electric shocks as punishment when told to do so by an authority figure. That's right, 65% of us are Lyndie England wannabes, given the right circumstances. People are very malleable and easy to lead.
Computers take this to a new level of (misguided) trust.
Re:serious??? (Score:2)
Re:serious??? (Score:2)
95% of them, probably. As the article says, they get a lot of sales reps and once an Argos delivery truck. A huge percentage of folks like that will be using GPS.