Just reviewing the route I am trying for the forthcoming travel. Just looked at some of the junctions and roundabouts, came across this person, possibly a Brit?
Oh, my goodness really dangerous.
Many drivers blindly follow SatNav instructions without seeing what is actually happening… and if their SN isn’t up to date it can be ghastly.
The warning voice doesn’t make sense if there is now a new junction or (heaven forbid) a roundabout… but daft drivers follow the instructions none the less.
When I first saw the picture, I could hear the blasted woman bleating.. “bear to the left”… aaaargh.
Being the only European country still driving on the left, that numpty being a Brit is highly likely.
I hope all aboard survived.
Yes the picture looks like it’s quite a clear road but you just never know when 40 tones of lorry is going to appear.
Or a combine harvester with the corn stalk cutters attached.
Netherlands and Luxembourg have yellow number plates… so could be one of those.
We have drivers of all nationalities, blindly following the nagging voice and not using their eyes.
How a lorry driver can mistake our narrow roadway “place du blah blah” for the main road (Tout Direction) beats me.. but they do… forcing their way under the trees and breaking their branches… no through-way for them, so they have to back out… often causing damage as they do so… aaaargh.
EDIT: some cars (again, all nationalities) do make the same mistake, but they can usually manoeuvre their way through the alleys and back to the main road… ![]()
I switched off the voice almost immediately and only use it for calculations of time and distance once I have given it the route.
Having had various sat nags over the years right from early versions where I spent a lot of time apparently driving through fields where roads had been added but not to the maps none have ever got me driving the wrong way around a roundabout. Taking the 3rd exit has never meant going the wrong way. With some of these long journeys I believe fatigue has a bigger effect on judgement. I know there are a lot of super human men who can drive a thousand KM’s without the need to stop but there are really good reason to take a break at least every 2.5 hours.
It used to be a max of 4.5 hours for HGV drivers, and probably still is, about right I would have thought.
Did they realise or did they enter a world of pain one wonders?
Have to admit occasionally pulling off on the left when there has not been much traffic to follow - fortunately always realised within 10 yards or so.
I have occasionally almost exited a builders merchant on the right once back in the UK but being Lewisham no one noticed ![]()
Our car SatNat dates from 2012 so not up to date… and our Lady has no idea that there might well be roundabout… or other amazing road alterations, which can give us a momentary pause for thought…
but we’ve never gone the wrong way round (not yet anyway…)
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Heartily agree! We make it part of the journey and plan our stops to suit.
I do worry if you use the satnav that’s not somewhat up to date and because the French build new roads and gone roundabout mad in just a few years it could cause more anxiety. If nothing has changed around you no problem. When I used to pay for TomTom updates the vast number were in no area that effected me like Eastern Europe.
Memories of my poor Mum trying to navigate our holidays with Dad’s maps which were 20 years out of date ![]()
Frankly, we always check our routes ages beforehand Via Google Maps and I have my trusty Maps of France which I love flicking through.
On the day itself, OH will only switch SN on as a general guide/reminder if we get to bits of France/Portugal/wherever that we are not au fait with.. and we can both read the Road Signs (I am the co-pilot
) so finding our way around is always part of the fun of the journey.
We used to do that before the days of sat nag but it didn’t work well as we’d roll up to a T-junction and I’d ask the co-pilot if we were going left or right only to be met with “how should I know”.
My response of “ because you’re holding the (redacted) map” didn’t go down too well
As Akela I was expected to know in which direction the Troop would be plodding… fast forward to OH and I on our jaunts and little has really changed ![]()
I think there’s even one of my old compasses in the car (somewhere) just in case all else fails and I have to plot our way to wherever… ![]()
and, yes, I do have my map-reading badge ![]()
Most important for us both, is to thoroughly enjoy ourselves… even if we do take a wrong turning (on the correct side of the road) we will sometimes find an unexpected watering hole… hic… a voyage of discovery is never a waste of time.
Ireland would like a word.
My experiences in the area around Cork would suggest the Irish drive down the middle of the road until they approach a statue of either Jesus or Mary at which point they take one hand off of the steering wheel to cross themselves and swerve into oncoming traffic, the pavement, a grass verge or a ditch.
Cork is also where I once had to act as an interpreter between a local driver and an Ulsterman.
