artikel over koppig gebruik van GPS
Geplaatst: 5 apr 2006 19:20
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main. ... p_05042006
Crackpot route for confused sat-nav drivers
By Paul Stokes
(Filed: 05/04/2006)
Modern technology is providing a route to madness for motorists and driving people to distraction in a tiny Yorkshire Dales hamlet called Crackpot.
Satellite navigation is directing strangers on to a steep unclassified road, impassable to normal road vehicles and with a 100ft drop on one side.
Salesmen, delivery men and minibus drivers have been caught out while taking what their electronic equipment shows them to be the quickest route.
Many ignore a no through road sign and open a five-bar gate before trying to continue along a gravel track linking Swaledale and Wensleydale.
It has led to farmers having to rescue them with tractors as the vehicles become stuck on an S-bend then try to reverse out of trouble.
Steven Porter, 41, whose Summer Lodge Farm stands at the start of the track, has noticed a marked increase in the number of vehicles in the past four or five months.
"I wondered what was happening, then one fellow who was stuck told me his satellite navigation system had brought him there," he said.
"They must have all got sat-navs for Christmas."
Previously, the road, which is close to Crackpot Cave, was used only by local people, gamekeepers and the occasional mountain biker.
It is believed to have been built by the Romans, was historically used by horses and carts and is several miles from the nearest main town of Reeth.
Mr Porter's wife, Carol, said: "The road was repaired for gamekeepers quite recently but really it is only for 4x4s. It really is dangerous.
"I run out and wave people back if I see them. We are that scared that something bad will happen.
"Just the other day a man tried to reverse and got stuck and blocked the road. At Christmas we had an Argos delivery van up there.
"Besides anything else it is a very steep road and it's no joke.
"It is a right of way to Wensleydale but something should be done to make people aware of what they're dealing with."
Mr Porter has taken up the matter as a safety issue with Grinton parish council, of which he is a member, and is calling for safety signs to be erected. He said: "It can only be a matter of time before someone goes over the edge of that drop."
The parish has asked North Yorkshire county council to look into the problem, which is not believed to be unique in an area criss-crossed by ancient tracks.
Andrew Atkin, 30, the licensee of the Bridge Inn, Grinton, said some customers had complained of their sat-nav sending them in the direction of Fremington Edge, an escarpment with abandoned mine workings.
Harold Brown, the chairman of Grinton parish council, said: "This modern technology is not all it is cracked up to be."
The Yorkshire Dales National Park visitor centre in Reeth may not have been inundated with lost drivers, but Sue Barker, the information adviser, said: "I think if they came in we would sell them a map.
"Then we could tell them how to get there."
The AA Motoring Trust said that about 10 per cent of motorists now regularly used satellite navigation.
A spokesman said: "It is becoming more popular but we have not heard of many incidents like this."
North Yorkshire county council said: "We will look at the signing issue and any appropriate action that needs to be taken will be taken."
• Crackpot was known as Crakepot back in 1298, a name deriving from the Old English "kraka" for crow and the Viking word "pot" which is a cavity or deep hole often in a river bed. In Crackpot's case "pot" refers to a rift in the limestone.
Crackpot route for confused sat-nav drivers
By Paul Stokes
(Filed: 05/04/2006)
Modern technology is providing a route to madness for motorists and driving people to distraction in a tiny Yorkshire Dales hamlet called Crackpot.
Satellite navigation is directing strangers on to a steep unclassified road, impassable to normal road vehicles and with a 100ft drop on one side.
Salesmen, delivery men and minibus drivers have been caught out while taking what their electronic equipment shows them to be the quickest route.
Many ignore a no through road sign and open a five-bar gate before trying to continue along a gravel track linking Swaledale and Wensleydale.
It has led to farmers having to rescue them with tractors as the vehicles become stuck on an S-bend then try to reverse out of trouble.
Steven Porter, 41, whose Summer Lodge Farm stands at the start of the track, has noticed a marked increase in the number of vehicles in the past four or five months.
"I wondered what was happening, then one fellow who was stuck told me his satellite navigation system had brought him there," he said.
"They must have all got sat-navs for Christmas."
Previously, the road, which is close to Crackpot Cave, was used only by local people, gamekeepers and the occasional mountain biker.
It is believed to have been built by the Romans, was historically used by horses and carts and is several miles from the nearest main town of Reeth.
Mr Porter's wife, Carol, said: "The road was repaired for gamekeepers quite recently but really it is only for 4x4s. It really is dangerous.
"I run out and wave people back if I see them. We are that scared that something bad will happen.
"Just the other day a man tried to reverse and got stuck and blocked the road. At Christmas we had an Argos delivery van up there.
"Besides anything else it is a very steep road and it's no joke.
"It is a right of way to Wensleydale but something should be done to make people aware of what they're dealing with."
Mr Porter has taken up the matter as a safety issue with Grinton parish council, of which he is a member, and is calling for safety signs to be erected. He said: "It can only be a matter of time before someone goes over the edge of that drop."
The parish has asked North Yorkshire county council to look into the problem, which is not believed to be unique in an area criss-crossed by ancient tracks.
Andrew Atkin, 30, the licensee of the Bridge Inn, Grinton, said some customers had complained of their sat-nav sending them in the direction of Fremington Edge, an escarpment with abandoned mine workings.
Harold Brown, the chairman of Grinton parish council, said: "This modern technology is not all it is cracked up to be."
The Yorkshire Dales National Park visitor centre in Reeth may not have been inundated with lost drivers, but Sue Barker, the information adviser, said: "I think if they came in we would sell them a map.
"Then we could tell them how to get there."
The AA Motoring Trust said that about 10 per cent of motorists now regularly used satellite navigation.
A spokesman said: "It is becoming more popular but we have not heard of many incidents like this."
North Yorkshire county council said: "We will look at the signing issue and any appropriate action that needs to be taken will be taken."
• Crackpot was known as Crakepot back in 1298, a name deriving from the Old English "kraka" for crow and the Viking word "pot" which is a cavity or deep hole often in a river bed. In Crackpot's case "pot" refers to a rift in the limestone.
