Satnav sends couple on wrong ferry

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

:blush:

Taken from ‘Sun’ Newspaper:

thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/ne … ferry.html

DOZY Bob and Pat Banks meant to drive to Spain via ocean-going ferry – but followed a sat nav on to a tiny boat across an English river.

The pair, in their 70s, planned to join 2,415 others for a 20-hour sea trip from Plymouth on a plush, ten-deck, 41,000-ton ship.

Torpoint Ferry
It’s an easy mistake to make … the Torpoint Ferry

But they were directed on to the 245-ton Torpoint Ferry for a six-minute, 650-metre hop across the Tamar from Devon to Cornwall.

Brittany Ferries ship
Seeing double … Brittany Ferries ship to Spain

By the time they twigged, their car was jammed in by others on the open-deck service.

Bob, from Leeds, said: “We were held up and got to Plymouth only 40 minutes before departure, so were relieved when our sat nav announced we’d reached our destination. When the truth dawned we had to accept the worst. I felt very embarrassed.”

Sign to the Torpoint Ferry, Plymouth
Wrong turn … sign to the Torpoint Ferry, Plymouth

Staff put them on the first trip back and a mystery driver on the service kindly guided Bob and Pat to their Brittany Ferries ship which they caught with seconds to spare.

2

I ended up on the Woolwich ferry on my way to france… will that make the news too?

(It was on my way)

3

A trucker from the Middle East ended up in the North of England and should have been in Gibraltar by following sat nav.

4

Complete idiots … more reason why satnavs are crap, if you have to rely on a damm satnav then give up driving FFS. :laughing:

5

Agreed! Time to hand the license back I’m afraid!
End of!

6

Shouldn’t be on the road. They should have their licenses revoked with immediate effect.

7

toby1234abc:
A trucker from the Middle East ended up in the North of England and should have been in Gibraltar by following sat nav.

So would you Tobi. The driver was Turkish. Coming to an EU near you :stuck_out_tongue:

Gibralter Point near Skegness

8

Think the driver lost his fuel bonus.The thing is when he checked in to get on the ferry in France, the freight office staff would check the Cmr and load manifest and when on the ferry in the drivers lounge he could have asked around where he was unloading at.There are maps on the wall in the drivers area.

9

Well, no harm done eh?

10

Cant see how it was the sat nav’s fault…

11

My sat nav tried to send me down a bridle path with a full load of Adr to a farm chemical yard.
The bridge is small and narrow.You could tip the trailer over in the river and pollute it.I would make the news.

12

I think some people would drive over the edge of a cliff if the sat nav told them.

13

I think the key point is ‘the pair, in their 70’s’

Plenty of old folks can drive ok, but there are plenty who shouldn’t still be on the road and get too easily confused. Then they make headines for stuff like this or more seriously driving the wrong way down the motorway or something like that.

There should be a mandatory re-test at 65 years old to make sure that people still have the faculties, then periodically after that.

14

Pendaric:
I think the key point is ‘the pair, in their 70’s’

Plenty of old folks can drive ok, but there are plenty who shouldn’t still be on the road and get too easily confused. Then they make headines for stuff like this or more seriously driving the wrong way down the motorway or something like that.

There should be a mandatory re-test at 65 years old to make sure that people still have the faculties, then periodically after that.

That’s a bit harsh, i’m almost 65 drive my own lorry, work for myself and other people, use maps, never use sat nav, certainly still got all my faculties, thank you.