Avoiding all narrow lanes (1 Viewer)

Sekliw

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I've just bought and returned an expensive Garmin Camper sat nave because it continued to send me down narrow lanes. I hat getting scratches and want to stick on main roads whenever possible. Do ANY sat navs avoid single track roads? Going to Ireland in a month and happy to buy an alt native if it works! Thank you- in advance!
 
Jul 29, 2013
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Lots of narrow roads over there! I think you'll find it's how you set the settings on navigation that dictates the route but most sat nav's make mistakes.
 

canopus

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Snooper seems to take account of the size of your vehicle, so one would assume it does avoid narrow lanes. Still have a Garmin and got sick of it doing the same. In addition, it never sent you the same way twice when avoiding delays i.e. when the roadworks were on the M1 near Luton a few years back :mad:

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My Pioneer one hasn't let me down so far.
 

Dave K

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I use a sat nav for traffic info and general direction but if I'm going to a specific point I also write down directions as a back up, and never go off the main road, a sat nav will try and take you through all sorts of lanes and tracks as a 'shortcut' when the truth is you'll get there quicker on a A road doing 50 mph when you're in a motorhome, the sat nav will soon re adjust its course

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scotjimland

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I hat getting scratches and want to stick on main roads whenever possible. Do ANY sat navs avoid single track roads?

If a single track road is the ONLY road going to a site.. or to get from A to B .. how else could it navigate you there ?

and if you stick to main roads you won't find many camp sites.. and the ones you do find will suffer from traffic noise..

I use a standard Garmin with the setting on 'fastest route'.. which means in uses the main A roads and M ways whenever possible.. but if a site is down a single track road it will take you down it..

to be 100% sure check the route on a map before committing to it ..


if that doesn't appeal.. then use Garmin Base Camp.. you can then plot and manage the route to suit YOU.. not Mr Garmin.
 
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GJH

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If a single track road is the ONLY road going to a site.. or to get from A to B .. how else could it navigate you there ?

and if you stick to main roads you won't find many camp sites.. and the ones you do find will suffer from traffic noise..

I use a standard Garmin with the setting on 'fastest route'.. which means in uses the main A roads and M ways whenever possible.. but if a site is down a single track road it will take you down it..

to be 100% sure check the route on a map before committing to it ..


if that doesn't appeal.. then use Garmin Base Camp.. you can then plot and manage the route to suit YOU.. not Mr Garmin.
I agree - though, after using several car sat navs we use a Garmin Camper 760 LMT-D as our main sat nav in the van and I am currently comparing it to a couple of others. See Here.
 

ianandkath

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my chinise truck one has sent me down some small roads, but that is cos its the only way there.
check with a road map if there is a differnt way as well, thats what we do

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Brisey

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if you use a truck satnav set the dimensions of your motorhome larger than they really are
A good tip from The Big 1. We do this on our Garmin Camper 760 LMT-D, no problems reaching our destinations so far both in the UK and in Spain.
Brisey.
 

JeanLuc

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Do ANY sat navs avoid single track roads?

Yes, but I'm afraid it's called the Driver!
I'm happy with a Garmin Dezl 560 Truck satnav but it still sends me down small roads when that is the most appropriate / only way to the destination. The satnav can only base its guidance on what is recorded in the mapping database; if no 'truck' data is held for a particular road, then the satnav cannot take account of it.
Always worth remembering that HGV drivers go along many roads with big vehicles where motorhomers might fear to drive, so one person's narrow road may be another's normal route.

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GJH

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Yes, but I'm afraid it's called the Driver!
I'm happy with a Garmin Dezl 560 Truck satnav but it still sends me down small roads when that is the most appropriate / only way to the destination. The satnav can only base its guidance on what is recorded in the mapping database; if no 'truck' data is held for a particular road, then the satnav cannot take account of it.
Always worth remembering that HGV drivers go along many roads with big vehicles where motorhomers might fear to drive, so one person's narrow road may be another's normal route.
Not just HGV drivers. In Norfolk last year we found several "challenging" roads which were bus routes.
 

JeanLuc

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Just to prove that a truck satnav does not always get it right, our Garmin chose a wholly inappropriate route a few months ago to get us from Llandovery to the C&CC site just to the north. It was a cheek-clenching half-hour as we negotiated what seemed like miles of single-track roads with steep inclines and a railway viaduct under repair! There was a perfectly good alternative that, for some reason, it ignored completely. It was my fault - I should have turned back as soon as I sensed we were going in the wrong direction.
https://goo.gl/maps/gDqie6yFzDr
 

scotjimland

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Not just HGV drivers. In Norfolk last year we found several "challenging" roads which were bus routes.
.. like the B class road to our village.. double deck busses and coaches, 40 ton HGV artic lorries, farm machinery .. and I find it tight with the Hymer.. especially when you meet said vehicles coming toward you .. :eek:

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EX51SSS

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Garmin 660 camper and set at wider and longer and works a treat. Even set it to artic with 14' 6'' height , 55' long and 9' wide and 44 tonnes and works 100%. The only other sat Nav that worked as good was a Chinese one but its too big. I've tried Tom Tom and snooper and garmin are far better (Hello!!!!! In my opinion) and apparently can be obtained at ÂŁ139.99 at Aldi but I paid ÂŁ199.99 and with the results I've had and accuracy, I'd have happily paid Garmins price (which weirdly enough is cheaper than Amazon)
 

MicknPat

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I've just bought and returned an expensive Garmin Camper sat nave because it continued to send me down narrow lanes. I hat getting scratches and want to stick on main roads whenever possible. Do ANY sat navs avoid single track roads? Going to Ireland in a month and happy to buy an alt native if it works! Thank you- in advance!

Think the problem is, who decides how narrow a narrow lane is and of course trees and hedges grow but are not always trimmed.
 
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JeanLuc

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Cynghordy viaduct.. ?

was there last year... staying at Eileen's excellent CS site .. Cwmcuttan Broken Link Removed
That's the one - the road over to Rhandirmwyn is very narrow! Funnily enough, when we walked along part of it a couple of days later, having come down from the hills, the road seemed wider than when we drove the Hymer along the same section!

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Sekliw

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Garmin 660 camper and set at wider and longer and works a treat. Even set it to artic with 14' 6'' height , 55' long and 9' wide and 44 tonnes and works 100%. The only other sat Nav that worked as good was a Chinese one but its too big. I've tried Tom Tom and snooper and garmin are far better (Hello!!!!! In my opinion) and apparently can be obtained at ÂŁ139.99 at Aldi but I paid ÂŁ199.99 and with the results I've had and accuracy, I'd have happily paid Garmins price (which weirdly enough is cheaper than Amazon)
 

pappajohn

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a wholly inappropriate route a few months ago to get us from Llandovery to the C&CC site just to the north. It was a cheek-clenching half-hour as we negotiated what seemed like miles of single-track roads with steep inclines
Been there, done that.....somewhere in Wales.
Satnag set at shortest route to a campsite.
Began on a good A road then turned off onto a single track across open country.
After about 8 miles we arrived but the site was flooded and closed so onwards.....

Set a new destination and set off, continuing in the same direction to find the A road we left 8 miles back less than a mile further on.
To this day I don't understand how that was the shortest route.....unless the A road meandered all over Wales.
 

EX51SSS

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Some people aren't as fortunate or unfortunate as you to have worn out miles of tarmac on our green and pleasant land. Yes admittedly there can be niggles and bugs but maps only do so much. I'll just add here that I am a wagon driver with over 30 years experience too so its not as though I'm green at what I'm saying.
Years ago, maps were the only choice if you didn't know areas. However, maps only do so much.
To get the accuracy of delivery destination and accounting for the delivery point isn't necessarily the address on the notes, you'd have to get a supply of A to Z of each city/town/county/country and a box to hold them all in. At one point, over 20 years ago, I had 18 A to Z's plus national map that showed bridge heights.
Because we had no alternative, this was the only option when on general haulage. If a dedicated company delivery they occasionally had their own maps or ask another driver.
As regards the A to Z's , they didn't show one way streets, weight limits, height restrictions etc, so you have to rely on looking at the particular page, memory and before committing to the turn, look for signage four any restrictions. The sat Nav has taken the hassle away. You can set the address/postcode and away you go and in the main, it'll take you to your destination hassle free. They do recognise one way streets, weight limits etc except for newly changed roads till updated. The sat Nav gets you on top of the place and if there is an unknown restriction then you can carry on and it'll find an alternative.
Its an aid to driving. It doesn't allow you to sit back and sleep. You have to comply with the law irrespective of what the sat Nav or map says.
The vast majority of professional drivers can find most towns and villages but its the last half mile that is crucial. Obviously you have to keep your eyes open for street signage and if it restricts your access, then don't enter. It gives far more information than any map I've used. An added advantage is that you can save that destination so yoiu can return to it repeatedly and from different start points.
There will always be doubters of technology as I am in certain areas but I'm definitely convinced the sat Nav has taken untold amount of stress out of my job. Of course, if a driver only has a few destinations to go to, they'll never need a sat Nav but I might go to 10/12 different destinations in one week. 40 to 50 different destinations in a month, possibly 500 different in a year and that's only doing 2 or 3 deliveries a day. What about the lads/lasses that do 50/60 drops a day and probably never repeat.
My first sat Nav cost ÂŁ400 around 12 years ago and it had less than a 2" screen, had to be connected because voice was in the lead not the sat Nav.
On my return trips I don't NEED the sat Nav on but it assists with time window and traffic delays.
Yeah! How could anyone trust a sat Nav?

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laneside

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Now we live in France we have learned that any of them will send you down a single track to save a hundred metres, if it says turn right or left and there is no sign post to show your next designation ignore it, it really can be a pain over here until yoy boss it
 
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Think the problem is, who decides how narrow a narrow lane is and of course trees and hedges grow but are not always trimmed.
Exactly. Last year in North Devon they shut the link road due to an accident & everyone was routed down what was the old road. Barely room for 2 to pass in the old days but now without much hedge trimming & many people unused to having to drag one side of any vehicle , let alone a motorhome, down the hedge most of the time it is a nightmare.Then you get the ones who have no idea what a "passing place " is or in a narrow one way section they are completely oblivious to the width of there own vehicle .
 

sdc77

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Looks like the op firstly didn't come here first to get advice where he would have found info on the aldi garmin offer.. and then having paid lots of money didn't set it up correctly.
Our garmin works fine for us. Very happy with it in fact.

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MicknPat

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Can anyone name me a 'normal' type paper map that shows narrow lanes with hedges or low tree that may scratch you motorhome ?
 

EX51SSS

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:Grin:I don't even think The Ordinance Survey maps do that.
There is a small but popular kennels with a RV parking there about 1/2 mile away. Your map or sat Nav will get to it but the lane is narrow, definitely only one vehicle, very tight bends, awkward gate to negotiate. So, if you wanted to go to that place, how could you possibly avoid this track. This obviously is an example albeit genuine. Find another place? No matter what, the occasional narrow, tight, awkward road/lane/track is unavoidable unless you have a helicopter available.
Detailed maps are pretty expensive. Can you imagine the cost if it was that detailed? What about Google Earth and check out before you go.
 

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