Kitchen Monkey

15 April 2008

Lost in a Sat Nav, but my shopping trolley can phone home!

Well I gave in to all the fuss and picked myself up a satellite navigation system or sat nav for short. Thinking I was missing out on something and also having a few mishaps with my faithful old map in the car I thought this new gadget would be great. But read on for latest views on this device and advance in technology to affect even our shopping trolleys which will amuse you.

Did you know that ‘Sat Nav’ sales have increased fivefold in the last 2 years?

29% of owners that is 1/3 of ‘sat nav’ owners have actually been directed to the wrong place, with 1 in 10 users owning up to having in car quarrels with passengers over the ‘sat nav’ itself. (I thought this was a gadget to alleviate the good old fashioned map reading quarrels, do you remember “you should have turned right back there!”). Recent surveys suggest new arguments appearing in cars with sat nav’s which they suggest as we are not in control of our route or journey this in turn causes tensions and arguments evolve. Users disagree with their sat navs over suggested routes and even the voice selected on their sat nav’s. I am sure you have tried all the voices, as you cannot resist it can you even to try the journey home in Spanish for instance, it’s the novelty of it! It’s interesting to note that the women choose the male voice and the men choose the ladies voice.

There are now over 13 million sat nav users in the UK. A huge 22% of us shout at our sat nav’s (I have to say this includes me), 20% of us turn off our sat nav’s after being directed down unsuitable roads, too narrow lanes, low bridges or even dead ends.

Women apparently are more likely to get angry and turn off the sat nav with 24% of women admitting the ‘sat nav’ is annoying compared with only 17% of men.

Obviously this is such a market that car’s are now being supplied with build in ‘sat nav’ devices. Today’s ‘sat nav’ devices come with varying degrees of extras, from speed trap locaters, being able to navigate by photos rather than maps, showing you nearby points of interest (POI), showing you food and petrol points and returning live traffic information to the driver for example. A good sat nav device can cost in the region of around £250.

There are various points of view regarding these devices including for instance the one of Network rail.
They say 2,000 bridges are being hit every year by lorries following their ‘sat nav’ routes. This was causing £10 million pounds a year of damage and 5,000 hours of delays. PJ Taylor of Network Rail said, “ The last few years has seen a sharp increase in the number of vehicles hitting bridges. Sat Nav’s are a great tool, but they are no alternative for drivers keeping their wits about them”. He further said, “He was asking drivers to pay extra attention to road signs warning of hazards ahead, even if they are using ‘sat nav’ systems”. Network rail have actually started the mapping of the low bridges in the UK with a view to feeding this information into the ‘sat nav’ software to help solve this problem.


In the Vale of Glamorgan they have actually invested in a new blue traffic sign showing a satellite above a lorry with a red line through it. This is suppose to warn motorists and lorry drivers to ignore their sat navs on the narrow welsh lanes due to lorries and touring vehicles getting stuck between the M4 and Cardiff airport on a small narrow lane. However, drivers are unfamiliar with the sign and misunderstood this sign and still drive along this road.

The society for the protection of ancient buildings (SPAB), also has concerns regarding damage caused by ‘sat nav’ users. Where damage is being caused for instance to 200 year old bridges and 300 year old cottages etc, all due to heavy traffic being directed wrongly. SPAB secretary, Phil Venning said, “blind reliance on sat navs was becoming a serious issue for old buildings, as motorists were being directed to use ancient lanes and narrow country roads, which would have posed problems for a horse drawn carriage let alone motorised traffic and this results in thousands of pounds of damage to historic structures”.

Where does the technology stop I ask myself as I recently read a article about a supermarket shopping trolley which is to be fitted with a ‘sat nav’ device. The trolley would be fitted with an onboard computer to plan the best route to buy what you want from your shopping list and suggest recipes on your way around the supermarket. These trolleys which could be in the UK as early as next year are supposed to slash our shopping time and will also display advertising. This ingenious idea is a partnership of Microsoft and Mediacart. The customer would insert a loyalty in to the shopping trolley which would show your previous shopping list. This would then show the location of each item upon the shopping list and if you needed anything else not on the list, all you have to do is ask, as it is also to be fitted with voice recognition software. A spokesman for Mediacart said “the shopping trolley shows the best and most efficient route to buy everything upon your shopping list, you can scan your shopping in aswell on you shop to save time and the device also shows your location within the supermarket all the while you are on the premises including the car park. Along with this our device will also be a great advertising media tool”.

This will make you smile though. When the shopping trolley gets stolen, it is fitted with the technology to phones home with its location so that it can be collected.

Regarding the ‘sat nav’ well I still always plan my journey and I still always carry my fateful old map as a backup plan!!

Send me your views and ‘sat nav’ stories; Email me at jacqui@kitchenmonkey.co.uk it would be great to hear from you.