SatNav Sends Woman To Her Death

RobBrady · Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 7:16 pm Post subject: SatNav Sends Woman To Her Death

Portsmouth.co.uk reports that a female motorist was misdirected down the A27 by her SatNav last December, resulting in a collision which tragically resulted in her death.

The twenty-one year old woman from Chichester was killed following a head-on collision which occurred after her SatNav advised her to take the first turning on a roundabout, directing her towards oncoming traffic on the A27.

A verdict of 'accidental death' was recorded by the coroner whilst one of the police offers involved in the case explained the accident could have resulted from a "momentary lapse in concentration" coupled with the woman's unfamiliarity with the area.

As one of many recent stories concerning misguided drivers relying on SatNavs, this story emphasises how these devices should be used to supplement driver knowledge rather than to replace it.

In an attempt to address the growing culture of SatNav dependence, the government held their first ever SatNav summit in March, aiming to improve the accuracy of the directions.

Other stories have seen tourists drive into the sea after following incorrect directions, whilst an Australian walker was stranded for two days following problems with a GPS device.

Of course, not all SatNav blunders have had such negative outcomes and misdirected criminals have been brought to justice thanks to navigational blunders - with both a drugs plot and a US smuggling operation foiled by misdirected GPS recently.

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alix776 · Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 7:58 pm Post subject:

Is an April. Fools sorry it ended in the woman dying but she was incontrol of the car not the sat nav
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DennisN · Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 9:56 pm Post subject:

I'm sorry, but there is absolutely not one single jot of evidence that the satnav told her to take the first exit - nobody says they were in the Ka with her and heard it say so and watched her obey, there is no police surveillance evidence quoted, nor CCTV footage scanned. There is not even a clear statement that a satnav was found in the wreckage.

Simply whoever wrote this says that's what happened. Journalistic incompetence!! They teach kids to write in school, would that they taught them to think about what they write.

And bear in mind that the "first exit" she must have taken would have been a right turn from going the wrong way (anti-clockwise) round the roundabout!
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Dennis

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M8TJT · Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 11:12 pm Post subject:

mostdom · Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 7:47 am Post subject:

No mention of satnav here but suggests that this is a dangerous road, here suggests we'll find out tomorrow!

here also suggests it was on the westbound carriageway but there are a number of roads that cross that road, and we have seen it many times where people turn into on comming traffic at crossroads?
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DennisN · Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 8:36 am Post subject:

Looking at it again, travelling from Chichester to Worthing, for lack of details, I'm guessing she was turning OFF the eastbound A27 here and after crossing over the A27, made a sort of U-turn left into the opposite off slip road instead of the correct exit from that roundabout for the road to Worthing.
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Dennis

...Eat's, shoot's, and leave's

mostdom · Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 9:24 am Post subject:

johnboy290 · Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 2:01 pm Post subject:

M8TJT · Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 2:06 pm Post subject:

GerryC · Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 3:23 pm Post subject:

In her defence, if it is the roundabout Dennis linked to, those No Entry signs are pointing in the wrong direction. They should be pointing towards the traffic circulating the roundabout, not facing the inside of it.

She would see them almost side on at best. More likely that she would be able to see the Give Way signs on the back instead. A No Left Turn wouldn't go amiss either.

RIP
Gerry

johnboy290 · Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 7:09 pm Post subject:

timtech · Lifetime Member Joined: Oct 14, 2009 Posts: 9

GerryC wrote

DennisN · Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 8:11 am Post subject:

Quick disclaimer - I am GUESSING that is the roundabout - it's the logical route from Chichester to Worthing which is the only information I had at the time (she was travelling from Chichester to pick up her best friend at Worthing and ended up driving the wrong way on the westbound carriageway of A27.

This is another tragic accident where I think there is no alternative answer to it being driver error. It does seem too easy to associate that with a satnav - as I first said, there is no evidence of it.
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Dennis

...Eat's, shoot's, and leave's

mostdom · Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 9:03 am Post subject:

andy-c1 · Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 7:57 am Post subject:

I've driven around there many times it is almost impossible to go onto the wrong side ...I'll have to look again next time I drive past ,but I do know 1 thing the sat nav always does right by me ..... You could also argue which make version she has as I use the TT750 while our work sat nav is co-pilot live pro with old maps and can take you on some weird routes.
Thing is people always forget the satnav is an AID not something to blindly follow
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