Stupid tourists?
KewlKiwi
navigation system took them on a 10-hour detour over one of the South
Island's roughest passes, described as "a shingle goat track"
"To say they're following their GPS quite frankly doesn't wash with me.
"They've gone past signs that said `Road Closed' that are 6ft high and
3ft wide and are illuminated."
Perhaps they should have stuck with paper maps!
Dennis Pogson
> 'The couple were yesterday resting after their hired car satellite
> navigation system took them on a 10-hour detour over one of the South
> Island's roughest passes, described as "a shingle goat track"
>
>
> "To say they're following their GPS quite frankly doesn't wash with
> me. "They've gone past signs that said `Road Closed' that are 6ft
> high and 3ft wide and are illuminated."
>
> Perhaps they should have stuck with paper maps!
>
>
earth we ban the use of mobile 'phones in cars and allow these other
distractions is beyond belief.
Dennis
Andreas van Hooijdonk
news:8L%7f.29833$S_1....@newsfe5-win.ntli.net...
in a hot discussion on the phone for half an hour or more. These tourists
had more confidence in their GPS routing software than in old-fashaned road
signs. It happens all the time, but rarely reaches the news. On the other
hand, anyone with experience with routing software, knows that it almost
always knows it better than you do. But I agree that these signs should have
initiated a "U-turn" by the driver and re-routing by the software.
--
Andreas van Hooijdonk
http://www.gps-practice-and-fun.com
Phil<pj@thecork.trig222.f9.co.uk
down a private 'white road'. I turned around and it re-routed, but I was
seriously un-impressed. Looking at the OS map later, it was obvious that the
road should not have been included.
Phil
mcewena
the south island (near westport I think) where the "main highway"
shares a 1 lane bridge with the railway.... ;) So it's all relative.
Gave me pause the first time I crossed on I'll tell you.
KewlKiwi
> In their defence, there were (in the 80's anyway) a couple of spots on
> the south island (near westport I think) where the "main highway"
> shares a 1 lane bridge with the railway.... ;) So it's all relative.
There are two - one on the way to the W coast, and one at the top end of
the S Island.
But re those ausie tourist... to get from Christchurch to Picton (where
the ferry to the N island is) you simply follow state highway 1,
basically all the way up the east coast. They started their unexpected
diversion from Hanmer Springs, which is NOT on SH1 - to get to it they
had to turn off the main highway and go several kilometers along the
road to the W coast! While you can get to Picton (eventually) that way,
it's a long way round of doing it.
What's more, to get to Hanmer, they would have had to turn off the west
coast road and enter what is basically (as far as highways go) a
dead-end - and the road signs would indicate this.
BTW, the road they did go on is a well-known 4wd jaunt, it's well
maintained by the farmers who use it as a stock route, and there lots of
places to turn around. Only reason it's not used more is that one
farmer who charges $20 for the 40 seconds it takes to unlock a gate.
(and thats $20 per car - he can easily make several hundred dollars, tax
free, if a 4WD club goes through)
Bob
J Jackson
"KewlKiwi" <kewl...@coolkiwi.com> wrote in message
news:4360643f$1...@clear.net.nz...
My sister recently returned to Scotland - never having been away for more
than a couple of months, so she still knows the roads very well. She
borrowed my TomTom Go to help her get the new house of a friend who had
recently moved to Alloa. She KNOWS the way to Alloa but followed the
instructions on the TomTom blindly and ended up doing a 20 mile detour
because the unit had become 'confused' when she travelled on a newly built
road.
I had wrongly assumed that, since she knew the road and all the local
shortcuts, she would simply use the unit, as I do, often, to 'home in' on
the address, once she was nearer to it.
WRONG!
Regards,
JJ
KewlKiwi
wrote:
> But re those ausie tourist... to get from Christchurch to Picton
Correction: The tourists were heading to Nelson, not Picton - not that
it makes any difference to the story since both places are in the
'top-half' of the South Island.
Bob
Dennis Pogson
That is precsiely my point. People who know the road system like the back of
their hand are buying these devices to prove what? 90% of car journeys have
been done before, so you might possibly use a digital mapping device 10% of
the time. If ever there was a prime example of useless marketing hype, this
is it!
Andreas van Hooijdonk
not used to GPS navigation. I don't say that you have to use it on the trip
to the church on sunday morning, but familiarizing yourself with GPS
navigation in your own country, before leaving for a big adventure abroad,
is a good idea anyway.
--
Andreas
Andreas van Hooijdonk
news:dal8f.4877$sA4....@newsfe2-win.ntli.net...
hand", you could be surprised by GPS Navigation. For years I always took the
same road to go from my house to address A. One day I let me guide by GPS
and found out that there was a much better road. Since then I did this for
addresses B, C, etc also and found out that, even if I know the roads, I do
not choose the "best" ones, most of the time.
Woody
avoid main roads or*** by the previous renters. The people probably knew
nothing about GPS. GPS is an aid to the human thinking power, not a fly by
wire system as some people apparently think itis...........
"Andreas van Hooijdonk" <ahoo...@scarletz.bez(NoZ)> wrote in message
news:4pidnX7lTaWLjv_e...@scarlet.biz...