Remove the sat nav from your car and use the old-fashioned map instead
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Aside from the sat nav, or the mere suspicion that there may be one in the car, renders your car a target for thieves, it is also not the great navigational aid that it is made out to be, whether civilian or military version.
Too many people have become too reliant on electronic devices to such an extent that the old skills have gone – almost – and the sat nav has led more than enough of them into deep water, literally. Common sense seems to have disappeared with the use of such devices. It is not, generally, a good idea to attempt to cross a river in full spate at a ford regardless of the sat nav saying that this is the route to take.
Furthermore it has become very evident during military operations in Afghanistan that when the satellites fail GPS and sat nav devices become all but useless. In one instance troops were grounded at Camp Bastion. Maps and compass knowledge would have allowed them to continue.
It is very scary indeed what people do relying on their sat navs and the strange routes that they take, ignoring warning signs and other notices.
While the sat nav may say that that is a road the sign may tell the user, who choses to ignore it because of what the sat nav tells him, that it is in fact not a public road and that it leads him into a live firing range where tank shells fly al about.
“But my sat nav told me to use this road”, is then invariably the excuse, followed by: “I did not look at any signs; I was following my sat nav's instructions.” Whatever happened to common sense and road sense?
Aside from sat navs being able to lead the users up the proverbial blind alley and garden path, and the latter literally, they are very expensive toys that can cost the user dearly, and also a target for thieves.
Plan your route with a map, and with the Internet it is very easy to come by detailed properly planned route maps and, in addition, carry a proper road atlas. Let's get back to basics and we will rach our targets easier, cheaper and safer.
Having more than once found a sat nav not being able to locate a target properly, even when the target has a postcode all of its own, I have yet to find fault with Google Maps and similar route planning services and maps. In addition to that I can also read road maps and other kinds and also navigate with a compass. It is not rocket science and in fact quite easy when the basics are understood.
© 2013
