Councils call for special sat navs that don’t take lorries down country lanes
A body that represents councils in Wales has called for special sat navs to be installed in all lorries so that they’re not led down unsuitable country lanes.
The Local Government Association said communities were “still being blighted” by incidents where lorries have blocked streets, got stuck in villages and crashed into bridges.
With a shortage of new HGV drivers meaning that many new drivers were coming into the industry, the special sat navs should be made mandatory rather than advisory, they said.
Some Welsh towns, such as Fishguard in Pembrokeshire, report a spate of incidents throughout the year as lorries become stuck on narrow streets.
A road in Wrexham was closed twice in six weeks earlier this year after lorries got stuck under the Cefn-y-Bedd railway bridge.
After Covid there were now more lorries than ever on the streets, the Local Government Association, which represents councils in Wales and England, said.
Cllr David Renard, Local Government Association Transport spokesperson, said: “The spate of accidents we continue to see involving lorries blocking streets, damaging local areas and crashing into bridges on an all too regular basis are causing major disruption to local communities.
“There are more lorry journeys than ever, risking more incidents. HGV mileage grew by nearly 9 per cent over the last year and is back above pre-pandemic levels.
“Councils already work with freight and haulage companies to ensure that lorries use the most suitable routes and roads. However, there are a minority of drivers who continue to follow satnav systems that take them down routes that are totally inappropriate for the weight and height of their vehicle.
“By making it mandatory for anyone operating an HGV to use a specialist satnav device, the Government can help to reduce the risk of accidents and keep our roads moving.”
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I know the solution to this…what’s that thing called? When you work out what you need to do and where you are going and how you are going to get there and what you will need to do to facilitate that? “P” something or other… You know, when you don’t just jump in a vehicle, and blindly punch in some details without even having looked at the route? You do it BEFORE you do things. PLANNING! That’s it, “planning”, you plan things out using the tools and information you have! Yeah man, INSTEAD of relying on the tools to just… Read more »
Right on Cathy! However, I suspect that the HGV firms put pressure on their drivers to get on the road ASAP and any of this poncy stuff about working out a route before hand would go down badly with the Boss. Sadly it comes back as do so many things to the Neo-Liberal small government, zero regulation, zero H & S culture and hence poor working conditions. Of course the SatNav manufacturers do bear some of the blame. Our Garmin system often takes us on a “Garmin Adventure” (Yes, that is a term used in their advertising!). Occasionally, for fun,… Read more »
Oh one of them there “special sat-navs”. 🙄
It’s a simple enough setting on most existing sat navs.
Totally agree. We had a coach come to us very late because satnav took them a stupid narrow way rather than the main road. Those that create satnavs need to refine their algorithms. They’re making money after all!