Avoid SatNav signs

[Lockwood]

Bridleway, not BOAT?

[DB617]

On the A48

Ah, this is the one I was describing up-thread. Those lanes aren't even very suitable for cars.

[traffic-light-man]

There's currently one of these at the southern end of the Preston Western Distributor Road on the A583, here.

[Big L]

On the A48

Ah, this is the one I was describing up-thread. Those lanes aren't even very suitable for cars.

Yes, I’d just come up that lane.

[nowster]

This one in Morfa Nefyn, sporting the uniquely North Welsh pictogram: https://goo.gl/maps/jBs8Pi2DPvwFvJJy5

[Big L]

This one in Morfa Nefyn, sporting the uniquely North Welsh pictogram: https://goo.gl/maps/jBs8Pi2DPvwFvJJy5

Looks scarily like the South Wales one I linked to a few posts ago
On the A48

[nowster]

This one in Morfa Nefyn, sporting the uniquely North Welsh pictogram: https://goo.gl/maps/jBs8Pi2DPvwFvJJy5

Looks scarily like the South Wales one I linked to a few posts ago
On the A48

I think the ones in Morfa Nefyn have been updated with wording since GSV went past in 2016. I'll have to remember what they say when I go past at 11pm on Friday evening.

[Klepsydra]

Racecourse Road, Stoke on Trent.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.9919975 ... ?entry=ttu

[Vierwielen]

Je conduis un autocar. Puis-je utiliser cette route ?

[BlackfordHill]

I've posted before about the consequences of this one being ignored.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.21423 ... entry=ttu

Picture quality is terrible but the bottom line of the sign on the right says "SAT NAV WRONG".

[Vierwielen]

Je conduis un autocar. Puis-je utiliser cette route ?

No-one seems to have picked up on this. Do we expect foreign drivers to understand reams of English when nobody in Sabre has seen fit to read the French caption?

[Norfolktolancashire]

One that has been there for two years so far on the A30 east of Carland Cross

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.3580908 ... ?entry=ttu

[KarlM]

This one in Lancahire to prevent vehicles getting stuck on the double hairpin further down the lane.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.79876 ... ?entry=ttu

Along with an official direction sign for major roads, there's also a couple of makeshift signs, one of which states No Sat Nav at Farley Lane near Alton Towers. At the other end of the lane there is an other unofficial sign but does not mention sat nav. Looking at street view of the lane which is described as extremely dangerous with severe bends, I've driven down worse, so preasumably these signs are to prevent the entire days visitors to Alton Towers trying to make their way down this lane. I think a number of the Unsuitable for Motors etc. in areas like Devon and Cornwall which see large numbers of tourists are used in a similar way to prevent back roads being clogged.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.99580 ... ?entry=ttu

[FosseWay]

Je conduis un autocar. Puis-je utiliser cette route ?

Non, parce que la voie visible est très étroite. Quelle que soit la signalisation, je m'attends à ce qu'un conducteur d'autocar responsable regarde la route devant lui et utilise son cerveau.

These signs may be useful at the start of a route which looks suitable for a large vehicle but then deteriorates. The old A45 through Kimbolton, for example. They really shouldn't be necessary in cases like this where the road looks unsuitable for a bus and, surprise surprise, turns out to be unsuitable for a bus.

On the use of text rather than imagery - there comes a point where the most efficient way of getting a message across is to write it down in black and white (or white and blue). If you simply want to exclude vehicles over a certain weight or length, you can use the relevant roundels. But if you want to put across a more nuanced message, then explaining what you mean using words is the most obvious way of doing it. It is up to visiting drivers to find out what signs written in the local language mean, not for the locals to spoonfeed them. In this case, parking, pointing your phone at the sign and running it through Google Translate would give you the answer.

[Vierwielen]

Je conduis un autocar. Puis-je utiliser cette route ?

Non, parce que la voie visible est très étroite. Quelle que soit la signalisation, je m'attends à ce qu'un conducteur d'autocar responsable regarde la route devant lui et utilise son cerveau.

These signs may be useful at the start of a route which looks suitable for a large vehicle but then deteriorates. The old A45 through Kimbolton, for example. They really shouldn't be necessary in cases like this where the road looks unsuitable for a bus and, surprise surprise, turns out to be unsuitable for a bus.

On the use of text rather than imagery - there comes a point where the most efficient way of getting a message across is to write it down in black and white (or white and blue). If you simply want to exclude vehicles over a certain weight or length, you can use the relevant roundels. But if you want to put across a more nuanced message, then explaining what you mean using words is the most obvious way of doing it. It is up to visiting drivers to find out what signs written in the local language mean, not for the locals to spoonfeed them. In this case, parking, pointing your phone at the sign and running it through Google Translate would give you the answer.

Sometimes easier said than done.

In 2001 I started a six-month IT contract working in France and Italy. I was told that the first three months would be in Grenoble where the French arm of the company was writing the specifications (in English) and the final three months would be in Rome where it would be implemented by the Italian arm of the company. I was part of the Italian team and had been recruited because I was a native English speaker. All my Italian colleagues spoke English and I do not speak Italian. My plan was to drive to the site from England then every fortnight to fly back home for the weekend, leaving my car at the appropriate airport.

During the first week of the project I was made team leader and after discussions with the management, it was decided that rather than working in Grenoble, that first part of the work would be done in Naples. During my first weekend on the project I drove from Grenoble to Naples with no preparation for driving in Italy, no road map or an English-Italian dictionary. I remember clearly seeing a road sign somewhere in Tuscany that had a black cloud inside a red triangle and the words "Con nebbia 50 km/h". The "50 km/h" part was self-explanatory but with no Italian, I assumed that the pictogram of a black cloud meant fog, mist, smoke or something of that ilk. As I was on the autostrada, stopping to look up the meaning of the word "nebbia" was not an option - it was the pictogram that explained it to me.

[trickstat]

Je conduis un autocar. Puis-je utiliser cette route ?

Non, parce que la voie visible est très étroite. Quelle que soit la signalisation, je m'attends à ce qu'un conducteur d'autocar responsable regarde la route devant lui et utilise son cerveau.

These signs may be useful at the start of a route which looks suitable for a large vehicle but then deteriorates. The old A45 through Kimbolton, for example. They really shouldn't be necessary in cases like this where the road looks unsuitable for a bus and, surprise surprise, turns out to be unsuitable for a bus.

On the use of text rather than imagery - there comes a point where the most efficient way of getting a message across is to write it down in black and white (or white and blue). If you simply want to exclude vehicles over a certain weight or length, you can use the relevant roundels. But if you want to put across a more nuanced message, then explaining what you mean using words is the most obvious way of doing it. It is up to visiting drivers to find out what signs written in the local language mean, not for the locals to spoonfeed them. In this case, parking, pointing your phone at the sign and running it through Google Translate would give you the answer.

Sometimes easier said than done.

In 2001 I started a six-month IT contract working in France and Italy. I was told that the first three months would be in Grenoble where the French arm of the company was writing the specifications (in English) and the final three months would be in Rome where it would be implemented by the Italian arm of the company. I was part of the Italian team and had been recruited because I was a native English speaker. All my Italian colleagues spoke English and I do not speak Italian. My plan was to drive to the site from England then every fortnight to fly back home for the weekend, leaving my car at the appropriate airport.

During the first week of the project I was made team leader and after discussions with the management, it was decided that rather than working in Grenoble, that first part of the work would be done in Naples. During my first weekend on the project I drove from Grenoble to Naples with no preparation for driving in Italy, no road map or an English-Italian dictionary. I remember clearly seeing a road sign somewhere in Tuscany that had a black cloud inside a red triangle and the words "Con nebbia 50 km/h". The "50 km/h" part was self-explanatory but with no Italian, I assumed that the pictogram of a black cloud meant fog, mist, smoke or something of that ilk. As I was on the autostrada, stopping to look up the meaning of the word "nebbia" was not an option - it was the pictogram that explained it to me.

Like the HGV crossed through with a red line on the sign Glen posted? Even if you had very limited English I think you'd have to be rather dim to attempt to drive an HGV past that sign.

[Vierwielen]

Non, parce que la voie visible est très étroite. Quelle que soit la signalisation, je m'attends à ce qu'un conducteur d'autocar responsable regarde la route devant lui et utilise son cerveau.

These signs may be useful at the start of a route which looks suitable for a large vehicle but then deteriorates. The old A45 through Kimbolton, for example. They really shouldn't be necessary in cases like this where the road looks unsuitable for a bus and, surprise surprise, turns out to be unsuitable for a bus.

On the use of text rather than imagery - there comes a point where the most efficient way of getting a message across is to write it down in black and white (or white and blue). If you simply want to exclude vehicles over a certain weight or length, you can use the relevant roundels. But if you want to put across a more nuanced message, then explaining what you mean using words is the most obvious way of doing it. It is up to visiting drivers to find out what signs written in the local language mean, not for the locals to spoonfeed them. In this case, parking, pointing your phone at the sign and running it through Google Translate would give you the answer.

Sometimes easier said than done.

In 2001 I started a six-month IT contract working in France and Italy. I was told that the first three months would be in Grenoble where the French arm of the company was writing the specifications (in English) and the final three months would be in Rome where it would be implemented by the Italian arm of the company. I was part of the Italian team and had been recruited because I was a native English speaker. All my Italian colleagues spoke English and I do not speak Italian. My plan was to drive to the site from England then every fortnight to fly back home for the weekend, leaving my car at the appropriate airport.

During the first week of the project I was made team leader and after discussions with the management, it was decided that rather than working in Grenoble, that first part of the work would be done in Naples. During my first weekend on the project I drove from Grenoble to Naples with no preparation for driving in Italy, no road map or an English-Italian dictionary. I remember clearly seeing a road sign somewhere in Tuscany that had a black cloud inside a red triangle and the words "Con nebbia 50 km/h". The "50 km/h" part was self-explanatory but with no Italian, I assumed that the pictogram of a black cloud meant fog, mist, smoke or something of that ilk. As I was on the autostrada, stopping to look up the meaning of the word "nebbia" was not an option - it was the pictogram that explained it to me.

Like the HGV crossed through with a red line on the sign Glen posted? Even if you had very limited English I think you'd have to be rather dim to attempt to drive an HGV past that sign.

Where does one draw th eline between 44 tonne HGVs and pick-up vans? Does this restriction apply to passenger vehicles? If this is a bigger problem in the UK than elsewhere, then maybe the UK should get the Vienna Convention updated to include standardised "Do not use Satnav" signs. One possibility is for all of EUrope to standardise on using the letters "GPS" to include "Satnav". A look at Wikidata shows that "GPS" is a pretty universal abbreviation. On epossibility is to have a prohibition sign with four arrow-heads pointign out at teh top, left, right and bottom (a bit like height and width prohibition signs) and the letters GPS in the middle. The idea is that this is a prohibition of using a "GPS compass". Such a sign is language-neutral.

[trickstat]

Sometimes easier said than done.

In 2001 I started a six-month IT contract working in France and Italy. I was told that the first three months would be in Grenoble where the French arm of the company was writing the specifications (in English) and the final three months would be in Rome where it would be implemented by the Italian arm of the company. I was part of the Italian team and had been recruited because I was a native English speaker. All my Italian colleagues spoke English and I do not speak Italian. My plan was to drive to the site from England then every fortnight to fly back home for the weekend, leaving my car at the appropriate airport.

During the first week of the project I was made team leader and after discussions with the management, it was decided that rather than working in Grenoble, that first part of the work would be done in Naples. During my first weekend on the project I drove from Grenoble to Naples with no preparation for driving in Italy, no road map or an English-Italian dictionary. I remember clearly seeing a road sign somewhere in Tuscany that had a black cloud inside a red triangle and the words "Con nebbia 50 km/h". The "50 km/h" part was self-explanatory but with no Italian, I assumed that the pictogram of a black cloud meant fog, mist, smoke or something of that ilk. As I was on the autostrada, stopping to look up the meaning of the word "nebbia" was not an option - it was the pictogram that explained it to me.

Like the HGV crossed through with a red line on the sign Glen posted? Even if you had very limited English I think you'd have to be rather dim to attempt to drive an HGV past that sign.

Where does one draw th eline between 44 tonne HGVs and pick-up vans? Does this restriction apply to passenger vehicles? If this is a bigger problem in the UK than elsewhere, then maybe the UK should get the Vienna Convention updated to include standardised "Do not use Satnav" signs. One possibility is for all of EUrope to standardise on using the letters "GPS" to include "Satnav". A look at Wikidata shows that "GPS" is a pretty universal abbreviation. On epossibility is to have a prohibition sign with four arrow-heads pointign out at teh top, left, right and bottom (a bit like height and width prohibition signs) and the letters GPS in the middle. The idea is that this is a prohibition of using a "GPS compass". Such a sign is language-neutral.

I would say that the HGV pictogram sign is clear that the restriction does not apply to cars. However, the signage could more clearly indicate to those not fluent in English that cars should avoid using this road as part of a through route.

[FosseWay]

Where does one draw th eline between 44 tonne HGVs and pick-up vans? Does this restriction apply to passenger vehicles?

The continent of Europe has harmonised definitions of what is a "lorry" and what is a "bus", based on regulations governing what class of licence you need, what total mass may not be exceeded, what speed you may drive at, and so on. The lorry symbol means a goods vehicle for which you need a specific licence, not just a category B. Same with the bus symbol.

The sign above with the crossed-out lorry and then explanatory text is very similar in principle to the cloud sign and con nebbia that you mentioned before - the most basic meaning is conveyed by pictograms, and more detail is provided in text. In both cases you can follow the basic requirement and then investigate the nuances later if you wish. In the case of the sat nav warning, you can probably do that on the spot, since you're likely to be able to park briefly to investigate it.

I'm not against providing a clear pictogram that conveys the message "your sat nav shouldn't be sending you here", providing it is clear. Some road signs are far from clear. There are some in Sweden with arrangements of dots in a warning triangle which apparently mean "attention to blind and/or deaf people". Nothing about the signs says that even to someone who has been driving for 30 years, and the signs are pretty rare. The no parking/clearway signs (one or two diagonal red lines on a blue background) also don't convey an obvious message, but they are at least fairly common. I think any "sat nav fail" sign would always have to be accompanied by text explaining what exactly the problem is. Is it that the road in general is too narrow, in which case you shouldn't be driving an HGV there at all, or is it OK in general but there is no through route for HGVs, so you won't have a problem if you're delivering to an address there?

[Ishtaria1980]

One I see on my weekly commute: https://goo.gl/maps/xaHiVFZufPb2qRdC6

Serena

I wonder if they'll ever take it down. How long has it been since Warren Lane roundabout was demolished and the new layout in place?