Narrow roads
Hi,
We are new to this and have found that wherever we have gone this year the satnav has directed us through some very difficult country roads, extremely narrow. We are in Cheddar this week and any help would be appreciated
! Thanks Gill Bell
Comments
-
This is a well known problem with Sat Navs, if you're goig to a club site follow the directions given, if not a club site then see their website/ring site.
You could also go back to basics and look at a map, OS 1:50000 are usually good enough or use google maps and directions? There are also 'dedicated' caravan sat navs too
1 -
Gill
Interestingly using my standalone TomTom with Camper Maps loaded I have rarely had that problem. Although on a previous Garmin it would try and take me down unsuitable roads. It might depend which model of sat nav you have and whether you have options to adjust or review the route. If you are able to review the route it might be an idea to check it against a map or if it is just a specific part of the route you are concerned about check it on Google Earth.
David
0 -
I never rely on Sat Nav alone but also use a decent map which shows road classifications and gradients.
As has been said, follow the directions given by the club, or the site, and amend your Sat Nav settings if necessary.
1 -
-
All club sites and most others give you directions. The routes will always be the best and sometimes the only safe ones. You can use a sat nav to get into an area but always use the sites own instructions for the final approach.
If you check the site directions on club sites they will normally warn you against unsuitable routes.
There are sites where some sat navs will send you wrong like Chatsworth so that can be another problem.
0 -
I've battled with car type satnavs and been defeated, I have tried Philips Garmin, Navigon and currently TomTom.
My old Philips and Navigon unit were the best where you could select "main roads only" this prevented diving off down tiny lanes.
Newer satnavs don't have this option, instead they have spurious eco routes or fastest routes which inevitably take you down a winding lane.
Another award for backwards progress.
The best way with a TomTom is go online and plan the route, this allows you to use Truck setting where you can input unit size. This planned route can be transferred to your satnav. But don't dare go wrong because your satnav will recalculate the route using its eco or fastest setting and direct you down the nearest lane. Dohh!!
So in conclusion I erring toward a proper camping satnav at a fantastic rip off price.
0 -
Use Google maps to check your route beforehand and identify any narrow/unsuitable roads. You can then print off the route and maps.
Ignore the SatNav if it attempts to take you where you shouldn't go, it is just a navigation aid after all.
Or if you have Android Auto in your car you can easily use Google maps whilst on the road.
0 -
I think that's the only way to do it, especially when visiting the SW where there are many single track roads and a B road can mean very narrow with passing places. Around Cheddar the lanes climb steeply up onto the Mendips or meander across the Levels, most are restricted width with obscured views.
0 -
My advice to you is ditch the sat nav and go old school,get yourself a good road book and a good front seat passenger.Far better than any sat nav.
Brian & Jo
3 -
Agree there, but also do a bit of research on the likes of Google, especially if visiting CLs, and go by the directions in the Site Directory or on the clubs web site.
1 -
The increasing prevalence of built-in sat navs also precludes pre-loading a planned route.
"get yourself a good road book and a good front seat passenger"
The latter tend to be rare in my experience.
1 -
I’m another CoPilot user but it is just a tool that needs carefull setting up and use.
0 -
Sat Navs certainly aren’t perfect, but on the whole they are better than my navigational skills.
My rules are as follows.
1 Don’t set a reduced speed for towing I find it forces you down smaller roads
2 Be prepared to bail out if you don’t like the turn then don’t do it and ignore the Sat Nav
3 If you take a wrong turning or follow point 2 above. Be careful that is when the rerouting can take you on some interesting routes.
0 -
The Sites handbook always give directions to each site and may say "do not use satnav" due to access issues and give the most suitable alternative route.
Might be worth doing a bit of a research before going.
0 -
Agree with the dangers of relying on the machinery. We were using maps plus Garmin near Ilkley earlier this week, and met a roadworks closure on a main road NW of Ilkley, when the satnav came up with a quick easy route round. Because it all happened so quickly, and went across a page turn on the map, my good passenger assumed the diversion offered was a short join between two major routes. Not so - it was a tiny road running along between them, wiggling its way to Ilkley for maybe 5 or 6 miles, with only occasional passing places. I was so grateful that i) we have a tiny van and ii) we only met a couple of shiny 4x4's, but nothing towing, coming t'other way. There was no time to research, and one on the road, nowhere to turn.
Yes, better research would have helped, but because of another diversion, we weren't quite where we expected to be in the first place!
Enjoy your van and have fun, Kev & Gill!
0 -
I've had a fair few similar experiences trundling round Cornwall for the past couple of weeks. Even with a small MH, there were some challenging moments. Word to the wise - don't take a MH through Porthleven unless you have a big tin of grease for the sides.
0 -
OMW, and I thought I was the only one who got into sticky situations with narrow roads!
For a while now I've not used the sat nav for directions. Our last MH had one built in the dash but you couldn't put your dimensions in.....so no point having it in the dash at all really. Why sell a MH with such a useless/dangerous option??
However, we recently had the good fortune of a friend giving us her CC camping sat nav. I've updated it with our dimensions and the tester is a couple of weeks going to Chatsworth although I already have my route written and printed out for my co-driver to hold up for me to compare!!
0 -
David, I've looked at the Camper maps and the options are fairly limited re ongoing updates...one off download, 4 downloads over a year, 6 over 18 mths.....all expensive considering they will go out of date....
i have lifetime map updates with my Tomtom, do you know if this can be linked with the camper map subscriptions?
i use My Drive app, which can make use of MH dimensions to plan and then send this route to the Tomtom, but it is not perfect, a bit clumsy and needs waypoints to retain the specific routing of the app once transferred...so, camper maps on the unit might be a good way forward, but not at their current pricing....
thanks.
0 -
good post David, and I think that links in with the thread regarding the survey about CLs perhaps? The consistency of traditional sites with what you found? Is that putting people going to CL's off or are CL's used by mainly more experienced club members?
0 -
I'd hate to think nervousness about driving would put us of using any kind of site, or indeed any holiday location. Key is to know dimensions of your outfit, check with site owners/providers about any access issues, learn how to read a map properly (UK OS are amongst best in the world), be prepared to stop and reroute if any diversion crops up, and, the best bit of technology we use........our iPhones. It will show any road works and bang up to date road conditions as you are travelling, so you can reroute before you set off, or during travel if you have a good co pilot. We have dodged many a hold up just by watching route lines turn red, indicating a hold up, with our iPhones.
Cornwall, Devon, parts of Yorkshire, all notorious for narrow streets, along with many others no doubt. Don't rely upon a single piece of technology, and always let common sense override a Sat Nav.
0 -
The anxiety is, IMHO, caused not so much by the narrowness but the fear that the current 'tight' situation may deteriorate without an option to retrieve the situation. I did speak to a guy who had a massive LV with slide-outs parked up at Roadford Lake near Okehampton who had received the advice not to stray from the A30!
1 -
I would be interested to read how correspondents think that SatNavs are programed to use any rig dimensions that they may be able to enter. To put that another way, how does their SatNav "know" that a road may be too narrow for their rig?
0 -
There are few roads in the UK that are un-navigable by reasonably large vehicles. Delivery drivers in their LWB Merc sprinter vans don't seem to have any trouble.
The secret is to plan the journey in advance and use a good map and compass along with a proper look at the route on Google earth. Sat-Navs should only be used as another helpful navigation aid, but never as the only one.
Narrow roads are only a bit of a nuisance if two caravanners meet while travelling in opposite directions and neither driver either cannot or will not reverse to the nearest passing place.
K
0
