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Another example of poor instructions today: Coming out of Hagley, travelling east along Park Road. Arrive at the roundabout and told by my sat nav to take third exit, Stourbridge Road. No traffic sign on approach to the roundabout, so looking for a clue from the road markings, but guess what, only road numbers painted in the lane markings. So once again, I just had to make a guess and hope for the best. Luckily I chose the correct one. A few miles further on at the M5 junction, similar vague instructions to take Halesowen Road. Now I had a clue because I could see on the approach road sign that an exit to Halesowen was labelled as A38. But when I got to the roundabout, the signs and road markings were labelled as A38(N) and A38(S). To add to the confusion, the A38(N) was also labelled Birmingham (South West). So I had to make a quick mental calculation to decide whether I needed A38N or S. Now if only the sat nav could have said "Take 3rd exit towards Halesowen, A38 North" Oh well, maybe one day.
Just a further update. I've had this back from Garmin:-
"Thanks for the additional information. I’ll pass this along.
I know most of the roads in the data will have a primary and secondary road name. In most cases, the secondary name will not display. It is possible that the road numbers are in the data as a secondary name and not showing. We’ve had a few emails similar to this. I’ll pass this on for further review."
Perhaps if more of us write in about this, they will consider adding this feature as this is one thing where TomTom sat navs are better.
Joined: Mar 03, 2006 Posts: 7037 Location: Reading
Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 4:21 am Post subject:
Garmin only really have the advantage of third party POI's and the digital traffic.
Using street names on major roads is insane, if you know the road name you don't need directions. Your post highlights the issue. Fortunately I don't use mine for navigation. _________________ Satnav:
Garmin 2599 LMT-D (Indoor test rig)
DashCam:
Viofo A119 V3
Car Average MPG :
Joined: Mar 18, 2011 Posts: 4454 Location: West Sussex
Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 6:42 am Post subject:
cottonsocks wrote:
Arrive at the roundabout and told by my sat nav to take third exit, Stourbridge Road. No traffic sign on approach to the roundabout, so looking for a clue from the road markings, but guess what, only road numbers painted in the lane markings. So once again, I just had to make a guess and hope for the best. Luckily I chose the correct one.
Luckily? Surely you can count to three? I understand you'd like clearer instructions but take the third exit really shouldn't cause anyone an issue. _________________ Where there's a will ... there's a way.
Joined: Apr 04, 2006 Posts: 10118 Location: Bexhill, South Sussex, UK
Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 8:46 am Post subject:
Well, regardless of the 'third exit' scenario, you should be able to chose whether you want road names or road numbers, especially on main roads. This facility is available on my iGO devices. And regardless of your scoffing at cottonsocks' comments, he is right and Garmin are wrong. They should use road numbers, as that's how the majority of main roads are marked. It's madness not to do so (or give the user the choice). The map data must include the data, as iGO can do it with either Navtech or TeleAtlas maps (or whatever they are called these days). And in the main, it pronounces the numbers the way you would expect. i.e. "A Twenty One" or "A two five nine" etc.
Joined: Apr 04, 2006 Posts: 10118 Location: Bexhill, South Sussex, UK
Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 9:11 am Post subject:
"A Four Three One Two, Towards the Em Four" would work for me. But "Take The Fourth Exit" would be interesting especially if you did the counter-clockwise thing around the big one.
The third exit (clockwise) is a dead end.
Interestingly, "Take the Fourth Exit" would work on a counter-clockwise trip too.
Joined: Mar 18, 2011 Posts: 4454 Location: West Sussex
Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 10:40 am Post subject:
Swindon's magic roundabout is a headache for anyone except those with good local knowledge. The beauty of it is that there is no one route. You can take whichever is easiest. _________________ Where there's a will ... there's a way.
Joined: 30/12/2002 17:36:20 Posts: 4912 Location: Oxfordshire, England, UK
Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 10:44 am Post subject:
It's some time since I've driven Swindon's Magic Roundabout. However I remember that Hemel Hempstead's Magic Roundabout confused the dickens out of my TomTom which just stuttered during the whole episode.
Regards, _________________ Robert.
iPhone 6s Plus, iOS 14.0.1: iOS CamerAlert v2.0.7
TomTom GO Mobile iOS 2.3.1; TomTom (UK & ROI and Europe) iOS apps v1.29
Garmin Camper 770 LMT-D
Joined: Mar 18, 2011 Posts: 4454 Location: West Sussex
Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 10:44 am Post subject:
M8TJT wrote:
Well, regardless of the 'third exit' scenario, you should be able to chose whether you want road names or road numbers, especially on main roads. This facility is available on my iGO devices. And regardless of your scoffing at cottonsocks' comments, he is right and Garmin are wrong.
Yes, sorry cottonsocks, maybe the comment was a bit unfair and yes, it would be better if in many cases road numbers were used, Garmin uses many more road numbers these days and it increases with every map update. Personally I don't find it an issue but accept some may prefer road numbers to names. _________________ Where there's a will ... there's a way.
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