Onwards, into the mud

The normal journalistic angle when reporting satnav errors is either to crow at the overpaid technophile's fall from grace, or to tut-tut at the truck drivers from central Europe getting stuck or destroying cottages in English country lanes. In fact one of the crucial features of these incidents is the way in which the route can look so plausible to begin with, and how the true nature of the road can only become apparent when it's too difficult to turn round -- combined with a sense of how far you would have to go back if you were to give up now. Combine that with a tendency towards obstinacy and bloody-mindedness and you have the makings of a classic satnav error.

John Cleese portrayed it perfectly years when satnav was unheard of in Michael Frayn's film Clockwise. Determined to avoid the embarrassment of admitting that he has directed his old flame driving the car up a blind alley, he directs her to press on regardless, in an attempt to find a short cut back to the main road. Instead things just get worse and worse and even when they find themselves crossing a field, the watchword is onwards, ever onwards... into the mud.

Satnav truckers "damaging village restoration work" in Welsh villages

First rule of architectural conservation: get your satnav signs up first.

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Google to the rescue

Not much help to satnav error victims perhaps because the essence of a SNE is that you don't recognize it -- or perhaps will not admit it -- until it's too late (the symbol of all SNE victims should be that of the frog boiling slowly to death over an increasing hear).

However Google, as ever, propose a novel angle on an existing use case by providing wayfinding maps at petrol pumps.

Satnav error leaves Czech lorry driver wedged in English country lane for three nights

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via The Map Room

Proactive approach to avoiding satnav errors emerges in Wales.

A Welsh council has put up a sign warning lorry drivers to ignore their satellite navigation systems after faulty sat-nav directions caused traffic chaos.

'Ignore sat-nav' sign posted to protect village

Comments elsewhere on the merits of the design itself.

Satnav error "destroys village"

I think this report in the Metro may just err on the side of overstatement.

"A lorry driver has wrecked a tiny village after his sat nav sent him the wrong way."

"...As the driver tried to negotiate his way along the village's small roads he caused chaos, demolishing a lamp post, destroying hedgerows and [w]alls and causing a four hour traffic jam when he finally got stuck."

Pensioners trapped for four hours down country lane

Back in the land of "And finally...", a group of 30 pensioners, some of them in wheelchairs, apparently missed out on a pub lunch after their coach became stuck between steep grass banks on a sharp bend.

"A farmer gave them tea and biscuits and allowed them to use his lavatory as the driver tried to find a way out of the single-track lane.

"Eventually the only solution was to drive the coach across three recently harvested fields to rejoin the main road." Shades of Clockwise.

The words of the driver's more experienced colleague in her defence testify to a familiar pattern of satnav error behaviour.

"She put her destination into the sat-nav to bring up an alternative route and it sent her down the lane. As she made her way down the lane she began to realise she may be in a spot of bother but instead of stopping when she should, she tried to press on. We all make mistakes."