....too many idiots fail to use what little brain cells they have & technology can't help there.... :)

Never a truer word spoken in jest.......

GPS can't find street that's been there 50 years & in the A-Z mapbook

Ain't technology marvellous!

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Three of the four mainline rail carrying bridges in Grantham are amongst the UK's top ten most struck bridges. This despite large letters saying "Low Bridge" and the height, and the bridge outlined (both sides) with large yellow and black striped. Tall HGVs strike the bridges and they clearly do not know how tall they are.

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It's good to be back amongst friends and colleagues

Tall HGVs strike the bridges and they clearly do not know how tall they are.

That's down to the drivers themselves. Many of today's drivers regardless of nationality just get in & drive - no semblance of professionalism in knowing the vehicles strengths & weaknesses!

Many HGV's I've driven had a yellow sticker on the dash detailing height & length of vehicle (rigid's) & one should know the height & length of any trailer & it's load[articulated).

Too many just want to get behind the wheel, drive & use their smartphones/dvd players/TV's or laptops....

....see that too often unfortunately!

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There is no sign on the approach to the bridge giving the clearance. (Drive it on Google street view.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-5_Skagit_River_Bridge_collapse

The collapse was apparently caused by a semi-trailer truck from Canada hauling an oversize load to Vancouver, Washington, damaging the compression chord in the overhead steel frame (trusswork) on the southbound side of the bridge.[8] The vertical clearance from the roadway to the upper arched beam in the outer southbound lane is 14 feet 7 inches (4.45 m), and all trucks with over-sized loads are expected to travel in the inside southbound lane where the clearance is around 17 feet (5.2 m). The trucker was traveling with a 15 feet 9 inches (4.80 m) tall load, and after the collapse a "dented upper corner and a scrape along the upper side [were] visible on the 'oversize load' equipment casing being hauled on the truck."[9] A pilot car was hired to ensure the load could pass safely. The pilot car never signalled the truck driver that there would be a problem crossing the Skagit bridge.[10]

<edit>Triple failure? Got the permit for the size of the load, hired a pilot vehicle, no sign with the restriction?

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....too many idiots fail to use what little brain cells they have & technology can't help there.... :)

Never a truer word spoken in jest.......

GPS can't find street that's been there 50 years & in the A-Z mapbook

Ain't technology marvellous!

I know three houses, ~150 years old, that have a postcode, so obviously the PO knows where they are. But look in any map, online or old technology A-Z and you will not find the street listed.
But on a map circa 1890's the road is clearly there.

....too many idiots fail to use what little brain cells they have & technology can't help there.... :)

Never a truer word spoken in jest.......

GPS can't find street that's been there 50 years & in the A-Z mapbook

Ain't technology marvellous!

... Except when abused or when people get blindly lazy.

Following a GPS, it is far too easy to get lazy and follow what the GPS says, blindly not even looking out for what the road signs might tell you...


And we may yet be moving to use "driver-less cars" that rely on GPS...

IT is what we make it...
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

When you think of it, all GPS's are always out of dat[e]! ... they are no susbstitute for a pair of eyes on the ground.

And there's the dangerous problem... The driver's attention is focused on what the GPS is displaying. Worse still, the driver has effectively been trained and conditioned by many miles of GPS-led driving to ALWAYS trust that the GPS is 'ALWAYS right'...

Hence why some drivers blindly drive into rivers or into old dams or down lanes far too narrow for their vehicle, or even more silly...


A possible useful and safe fix would be to do away with the always-on display of GPSes and instead have spoken instructions that guide the driver to look out for whatever direction signs for that part of the road. You then get a triple safety bonus of:

Driver not dangerously distracted staring at a small overly bright computer display;

Driver encouraged to actually look for and look at road signs;

Driver not getting conditioned to only believe the GPS!


IT is what and how we use it...
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

When you think of it, all GPS's are always out of data!

Because a GPS only has Lat / Lon / elevation

Any road sign or narrow lane or bridge can be changed at any time. The Gps will show the correct location in relation to other local details, but it wont know about any changes to details until, firstly someone tells them, and secondly they issue an update. GPS's are useful for finding out roughly where you are on a map, in case you get lost, but they are no susbstitute for a pair of eyes on the ground.

You and 99.99% of everyone is confused. It isn't the GPS that needs the update, it is the map database that gets out of date. No different if you used last years paper one in the old days! Just like last years phone book.

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You and 99.99% of everyone is confused. It isn't the GPS that needs the update, it is the map database that gets out of date. No different if you used last years paper one in the old days! Just like last years phone book.

Make that 85% & you'd be correct!

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Make that 85% & you'd be correct!

The 'problem' is that it is the other 15% that kills you and potentially kills others...


Far better is to keep your eyes on the road and on the here and now?...

IT is what we make it and what we believe it to be...
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

That's a sick & selfish outlook on life! You'd better make that 70% then!

There's good & bad in every profession so to label them either dumb & useless or potential killers says a lot about your mentality.

It would benefit you if you walked away from your "Linux" screen, stepped outside & smell the roses.

However you do raise a valid point regarding road users. Unfortunately, technology only serves to make their stupidity worse!

The times I wished I was a motorcycle cop, the money I'd roll in would be tremendous - talking & texting on mobiles, shaving & talking & recently while in a traffic jam after an accident on the A14, seen a woman driver steering with her knee while talking on the phone & also applying makeup. When tooted, she gave me the "bird".

Here's the catch! Was she a youngster? No, I'd put her in the early to mid 40's.

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I don't always agree with Martin myself, but that response was a bit harsh .....

Gary stated: -

You and 99.99% of everyone is confused. It isn't the GPS that needs the update, it is the map database that gets out of date. No different if you used last years paper one in the old days! Just like last years phone book.

Which I replied to: -

Make that 85% & you'd be correct!

To which Martin replied: -

The 'problem' is that it is the other 15% that kills you and potentially kills others...

Not sure where you went to school but 85% & 15% = 100%.

So ALL road users are either confused or potential killers? Harsh? Sounds like you're one of those "cocooned" in their little 4 wheel world!

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It would benefit you if you walked away from your "Linux" screen, stepped outside & smell the roses.

He just has the screen color set to extra cool. His eyes attempt to adjust for all that excess blue. The problem is when he looks at the real world all he can see is rosy. And anything rosy in the real world will come out blood red to him.

;)

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New Cars..... note that Linux nor Win 8 not running them :)

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Oh dear, it seems to never end.....

...now it's Apple's turn to pull their products :)

Apple loses Trade Panel ruling in Samsung dispute

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Oh dear, it seems to never end.....

...now it's Apple's turn to pull their products :)

Well not for at least 60 days.

Apple is free to continue selling the models involved during the 60-day review period.

"Today's decision has no impact on the availability of Apple products in the United States," Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet said in a statement.

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With all this modern technology in vehicles, think some is needed to tell drivers "not to hog the middle lane", it'll soon save them a LOT of MONEY!

What's wrong with "Middle Lane Hogging"?

That's me safe then in these......

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With all this modern technology in vehicles, think some is needed to tell drivers "not to hog the middle lane", it'll soon save them a LOT of MONEY!

What's wrong with "Middle Lane Hogging"?

You just need a little LA traffic. Try I-5 from just north of the I-405 junction on down to south of the SR-118 junction. Gets up to 15 lanes wide.

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So lets recap here with Martin's view

85% of people wrongly think that the GPS needs an update
15% of people correctly realise that the map database needs updating.

it is the other 15% that kills you and potentially kills others...

That conclusion is illogical.

Not sure where you went to school but 85% & 15% = 100%.
So ALL road users are either confused or potential killers?

In Martins view, apparently yes. ...

And 75% of all statistics are simply made up...

Sorry to get you all so excited, the "15%" just "sounded right" and was glibly usurped :-P


Regardless of the glib statistics, we still have most drivers complacently considering themselves to be "better than average" for their assumed abilities, and suffer the resultant negligent, distracted, or simply misjudged crashes.

Are technology gadgets adding to the dangerous distraction?...


IT is what we do with it...
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Regardless of the glib statistics, we still have most drivers complacently considering themselves to be "better than average" for their assumed abilities, and suffer the resultant negligent, distracted, or simply misjudged crashes.

Are technology gadgets adding to the dangerous distraction?...

+1

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