Satnav: avoid unclassified roads
Hi,
Does anyone know of a SatNav or SatNav app which has an option to avoid unclassified roads?
I know that some sat navs have an option to set the width, height and weight of your outfit but that doesn't prevent you being routed down a narrow unclassified single track lane which is a nightmare when towing a caravan.
I think the club should carry out tests on sat navs to check the routing and whether it has an option to avoid unclassified roads and if not petition the manufacturers to add this.
Comments
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Sat Navs have settings for either major roads or quickest routes and the latter will choose the major roads - as opposed to shortest route which will use back lanes.
The foolproof way is to check your route on a map first and then you’ll know which roads you expect you use. I’m not sure it’s for the club to do the work for us.
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Hi Tinwheeler, I have tried the "Shortest Route" setting and the "Quickest Route" setting on my satnav but very often they give the same route along a narrow unclassified lane which actually IS shorter and quicker as long as you don't have to reverse up when you meet a car coming the other way.
The club does test tow cars so why not try to help caravanners find the best sat navs to make their journeys safer and less stressful? I can't memorize the entire route I've planned from a map so have to rely on the satnav (which is the whole point of a SatNav).
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Sorry, I can’t help you if it’s your sat nav playing silly beggars.
As for the club testing sat navs, you could contact them and ask but remember it’s not club staff who do the testing of cars so you could be at the mercy of whoever they acquire the test report from.
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I use “My Drive” with my Tomtom and have found it to be the only certain way of avoiding unsuitable routes for a caravan. It takes a bit of time and research using Google maps and Street View to select the most suitable route but once saved into My Drive and then downloaded to the satnav, you can be confident that there won’t be any nasty surprises.
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Co-Pilot and Map Factor used to allow you to avoid classes of roads but both have dropped this function against howls of protest. It is rumoured that Co-Pilot intend to restore it but Map Factor's position is uncertain. If I find out for certain I will post the result here.
peedee
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The problem with Sat Navs avoiding unclassified roads is that according to this Government website 60% of all roads in the UK fit into that category which is a lot of roads? The only foolproof method with avoiding roads you don't like is to review the route before setting off and make adjustments via the settings. Most sat navs allow you to do this. Having said that My old TomTom with the Camper Maps installed where pretty successful most of the time in avoid unsuitable roads although I do have to keep an eye on the built in TomTom in my motorhome which one would have thought we be set up for such a vehicle but that often seems not to be the case!!!
David
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You can download a free version of Mapfactor Navigator, I have just done this for my Android smart phone and had a very quick look at it and it does allow control over roads and you can set the type of vehicle you are using.
Suggest you have a look at it and try it. If it turns out you like it you can always move to the paid for version which uses TomTom maps rather than Open Street Maps not that there is anything wrong with the latter.
peedee
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A map?
My wife a d I run through the proposed SatNav route and check it against a map book, in order to apply a bit of commonsense and map reading skills to our intended route.We are in our later 60s and used to find our way around before Sat Navs were available.They are a useful supplement to,not a replacement for, a map,in our opinion .
Particularly useful procedure when driving in rural areas and abroad,in our experience.
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We use a TomTom caravan and motorhome satnav which has so far been very reliable. For instance, where the Club Sites Directory warns to approach the site only via a particular route, the tomtom has always selected that approach automatically. Driving solo in unknown areas, I also use the tomtom rather than the car's satnav, telling it I am driving a small motorhome so that I am not taken down very narrow routes
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Road classification is all to do with strategic significance, not width, gradient, etc. Hence some "A Class" roads with grass up the middle!
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Hi, It may be a throw back to when I was listening to my Dad but cant agree with your statement;
I can't memorize the entire route I've planned from a map so have to rely on the satnav (which is the whole point of a SatNav).
Any satnav is an aid only.
My sugegstion is to look at Google maps, input your destination and then alter the route to suit you-then use the option to send the directions to your phone.
I always use Streetview when visiting new sites/places to try and avoid being caught out.
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There’s no such thing as an infallible satnav. Whichever product you purchase it’s only as good as the underpinning digital data mapping and, for the most part, that means one of two sources - there’s not a huge range of different options out there. Previous posters have usefully suggested methods to mitigate satnav shortcomings. Club site information will generally get you safely through the final stages of your trip. Most potential problems will be on routes which involve local roads. If in doubt I suggest you check here as quite a few local members know popular routes very well and can advise you accordingly if you post your intentions.
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Satnavs are a useful but limited tool, even if a dedicated caravan/moho one. They come into their own when finding a street in a strange town. For long distance journeys, unless one has an aversion to trunk roads, a satnav is only really required for the final few miles to one's destination. In the "old days" before a satnav, I would write a quick list of principle towns and road numbers. Following the gantry/ road signs would get me to within striking distance of my destination without recourse to electronics or even a map. It's just the final bit that requires a more detailed study.
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Satnavs that supposedly take into account vehicle width dimensions can be a bit random. A width restriction of 6’-6” is fairly common. If you’re driving a Ducato PVC at 2.05m (6’-8”) will your satnav redirect you? I’m my experience sometimes yes, sometimes no. Is that because the satnav knows something we don’t e.g. width restriction is primarily to stop HGVs, and not actually a width restriction? Or, is the satnav programmed to ignore marginal differences because 6’-6” is usually more in practice e.g. margin for error required in the signage? Or, is it because over 6’-6” is ok for access only? Or, is something to do with how 6’-6” is measured e.g, kerb to kerb? As we all know, sometimes 6’-6” means exactly that and we ignore it at our peril. How many folks inflate their width dimensions to add a bigger margin and ignore 6’-6” altogether?
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In the "old days" before a satnav, I would write a quick list of principle towns and road numbers. Following the gantry/ road signs would get me to within striking distance of my destination.
In the old days there were no gantries, and many of the road signs had been removed or repositioned to confuse any unwanted visitors from across the Channel.
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Hi David,
Thanks for your reply. I think I found the Government webpage you are referring to about road classification. Yes 60% of all roads being unclassified is a high number of roads and they probably date back to the days of horse and carts. I notice the website goes on to say:
"an unclassified road will generally have very low significance to traffic, and be of only very local importance."
so satnavs really shouldn't be routing us down these.
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Hi peedee,
Thank you very much for both replies you posted. I have unsuccessfully tried an app called RoadLords but I hadn't heard of Mapfactor Navigator. I have downloaded it to my phone and tried out one of my test routes (Cirencester to Bourton-on-the-Water Club site at GL54 3BU). I had to put in the GPS co-ords of the site because it didn't recognize the postcode, but it successfully avoided the pitfall of a long single track lane which my TomTom took us down in May (luckily we only met 1 car but it was stressful). I will try some more test routes (where we also got caught out this year) and report back.
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My driving "old days" don't go back that far having been born post D-Day.
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Long after D-Day, and even after we were well into the last quarter of the previous century, some local authorities had still not replaced missing finger-post signs. Does not help that there are mischevious fools about who re-position signs!
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My original satnavs way back allowed "main roads only" which was the best setting for towing as it avoided all the narrow roads until you were within the sites approach directions. More recent devices only allow fastest, economy etc much less helpful.
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A good few years ago I used to use Mapfactor Truck, it had a few quirks, one in particular which used to annoy me was it would take routes through the middle of towns rather than use a bypass unles there was a truck ban. I was pointed in the direction of Co-Pilot Truck which I found much better so I dropped Mapfactor. Co-Pilot has since been taken over and is now marketed differently and although I still use it, it is not what it used to be. Map Factor may well now be a better option especially as I used to like the add on, Map Explorer as a planning tool. This used to come free with Navigator purchase.
I have also downloaded the free version to my tablet and will also trial it. You can change the settings to tell it to not use any of the UK road types and congestion charge areas so I am hoping that if I set it not to use any of the local roads or give the major roads a high preference, it will avoid them unless I included them as a waypoint. Unlike other sat navs I think one might have to play around with these road settings, in combination with waypoints, to obtain the most suitable routing for the type of outfit you are driving
peedee
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On my very old TomTom with 20 year old maps, I always used "fastest" which prioritised major roads. On my latest "Camper" version, the algorithm seems to have been tweaked and, whilst it's yet to send me down a "goat track, I am less happy with the choices it now makes. I find I'm increasingly ignoring the directions in favour of following the signs on the gantries.
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