Disadvantages and Costly Mistakes of the Satnav - Term Paper Example

Introduction In our lives today, satellites are already playing a very critical role in the running of daily activities by exploration, helping in communication and aiding the carrying out of social and scientific research on issues of global significance. The probability of seeing the advanced and improved satellite use in the daily operations of issues is very high and we expect them to play a critical role in the achievement of key issues dealing with the life support systems and functions of the technological issues of concern in the global development. Presently the use of satellites has been in cooperated in the satellite navigation in helping to design routes and roads through the provision of route maps and guiding of the navigators. This is a very important issue and in cases of errors then the issue becomes of great problem due to the problems associated with losing track of your destination or losing the all important time which in most cases is constrained. The GPS has emerged as one of the most successful product of successful products of satellite and it plays a major role in the positioning of routes and features on the surface of the earth. In the past century, the automotive industry has been constantly confronted by a myriad of challenges compared to other related service industries. The influencers of the industry have not been only the relations to the market demands and forces but also numerous other factors of which have been envisaged in the twentieth century. The car has become the most preferred mode of transport in the current times, vehicle rallies and motor shows have equally developed the fondness of this machine to many individuals in these times. Most manufacturers like the General Motors have recognised the tastes of customers and made cars which satisfy the preferences of their clients in relation to the provision of the necessary services and the quality of the machine itself. The international community has moved from an era of difference to an era of preference where one does not have to stick to something because he has been advised by a professional or some expert in the are of concern but we have moved to a time period where the consumers especially in the transport industry have decided to be comparing of navigation purposes. The number of navigators using the road transport has increased worldwide and in the US alone the percentage of female drivers have increased by 25%.In 1986,the number of male drivers was double that of the female drivers but today the number of the female navigators has increased exponentially having a great impact on the potential of the population of the navigators on our roads using them without the long term experience and the necessary knowledge of the routes to follow to the desired destinations minus the hiccup of losing track to obstacles or wasting of time and resources by following the wrong routes. DISCUSSION The use of satellite navigation instructions and positioning by the navigators has been faced by numerous other constraints in the recent past especially due to the errors related to the information on the navigation maps and tools which have led to disastrous cases of improper access to the required destination points especially by navigators of the globe. Some of the cases of the problems related to non updated satellite navigation directories have been discussed herein. Many of the roads navigated are to be reclassified as too dangerous for the prevention of fresh Satellite navigation chaos in the countryside and covering all parts of the country. It is under planning from April that ministers will hand councils the new powers to try and minimize the occurrences of crashes and jams from traffic on routes viewed as unsuitable. From the early days of the explosion of sales of the satellite navigation, hundreds of roads in the villages and counties have been faced by problems of Lorries and car drivers who follow their in car computer’s guidance to the very fine details. This leads to them often finding themselves stuck in cul-de-sacs or village centres or in towns that are unsuitable for large vehicles or lacking proper access to their kinds of machine. Therefore the Town halls will not be restricted to apply every time to Whitehall for permission of reclassification of routes. The newly developed and generated information will be passed on to the Satnav firms for updating of their software. The minister of transport will in March host a Satnav summit to give finer details on the use of this technology in the transportation sector for the purposes of effective and productive transport means in the industry and give information on how to effect the changes in the updates of the satnav for the avoidance of mess-ups. The information gained is aimed at ending the misery caused when lorry and car drivers blindly follow out-of-date or in correct directions from their satnavs. Satellite navigation systems will moreover tell drivers if the road is unsuitable for Lorries and define the car sizes that are most appropriate for each road size and type. The changes will therefore stop satnav systems sending Lorries on shortcuts and routes which are unsuitable to their passage and unhindered movements. The problems that may face the users of satnavs is that roads which were formerly considered as major routes in earlier years may now be situated in busy built up towns and villages, as was reported by a Department of Transport spokesman. Transport minister Mr Baker further reported that ‘Out-of-date directions mean misdirected traffic - a scourge of local communities. Therefore it is vital that highway authorities, mapping companies and sat nav manufacturers engage one another more closely together to give drivers accurate, up- to-date information on especially on traffic restrictions like narrow roads or low bridges. This will eventually aid in the prevention of huge lorries from being directed down inappropriate roads and ensuring that motorists are given the best option in relation to their directions.’ The officials further explain that the problem is exacerbated by motorists who out of intentions or neglect fail to update their own satnav maps on regular basis , either because of forgetfulness or because they are unaware that they can update their maps regularly. However , the AA issued a warning that the measures to reclassifying roads could lead to mismatching of road types from differing counties and this will lead to ‘confusion ’ for Satnav mapping companies ,users ,planners and drivers . Disadvantages and costly Mistakes of the Satnav Over the years that the Satnav has been in usage, there have been documentations of different issues that have either threatened the very value of the technology either directly or indirectly making the decisions to use it a little complex and acting as an impediment to its full usage. Some of the cases where the usages of this technology have led to problems are documented below; In September 2009, a driver had his car left hanging on the edge of a 100ft cliff after following a satnav and was eventually ordered to pay nearly £900 for driving minus due care and attention. Later on in the same month Robert Jones, a 43 year old man ,was nearly plunging down the cliff while driving a BMW after following instructions from his satnav which sent him along a steep without clear warning of the road or route ahead. The path was later discovered by the driver to be narrow, in Todmorden, West Yorkshire .Later on in June 2009 ,a 79-year old retired banker took the wrong way to hospital by following the country lanes which were indicated by his satnav instructions. The problem has affected all sectors of the commuter services and it influenced the decisions and directions taken by ambulance crews on two occasions, this was majorly due to faulty satnav devices with outdated information on the roads network. The anomaly related to the system has led to an emergency response medic, Leslie Palmer, having to unintentionally endure a 45-minutes travel to accident scene and emergency call to Royal Hampshire County Hospital in the two instances she should have taken about 20 minutes. In September 2008, a crematorium superintendent observed four funerals get disrupted in one afternoon because the lorries were sent the wrong direction because of to out-of-date satnav information giving completely irrelevant information on the planned and intended destination. In April 2008, a minibus which was owned by a taxi firm remained stranded and had to be l left on that spot after a satellite navigation system guided it to valley hence leaving it with no option out. In March, 2008,a blunder and poor instruction by the satnav of a taxi left the Chelsea-supporting daughter of Earl Spencer with disappointments after being dropped off at a wrong Stamford Bridge, which was not his real destination. The girl was picked up from Earls Althorp estate near Northampton, but the teenager later found herself in a remote village near York, which was actually more than 200 miles away from the home of the Blues’ home. In December 2007, office workers who were on a Christmas shopping trip to France found themselves taken to the wrong country, which was not their intentional destination following a satnav error which led to the diversion of their coach seven hours off the right course of their travel. Instead of the crew arriving in the Lille ,French City ,50 members of Cheltenham and Gloucester sports and social club had to be diverted 98 miles away to a remote village, having the same name, in Belgium, this left them only with two hours for shopping after the driver made a correction of his mistake. On March 2007, schoolchildren who were in a coach visiting Hampton Court Palace were driven around for five hours within the traffic after a driver using satnav found himself at Hampton Court, in Islington, North London. THE OPINIONS AND COMMENTS OF USERS AND READERS Most of the users report refusing to have a satnav because they stop them from thinking about where they are and how they should navigate naturally guided by their knowledge and information about the routes to be followed. The response from most of the people is that whether using satnav or not, individuals should use their intelligence and common sense when driving. In the event of an inability to employ any of this then the driver should not be on the road because he is deemed to cause great mess to other road users. Other users find the technology very vital to their daily operations and cannot run their chores minus the use of this. They find navigation impossible minus this device and view the satnav as a godsend technology to aid their day to day operations in a manner that can be sustained by them. There is a man who reports that his son travels everywhere according and follows the instructions of the postcodes which he feeds into his satnav and without even the knowledge of the county hed travelled to for his partying sprees around the country. CONCLUSION The management of the satnav should holistically be managed by all the affected parties ranging from the resource and information users like the navigators and the producers of this information on the day to day operations. The authorities like government officials should ensure that the necessary measures and tools are put in place to ensure that the best information which are updated and professionally managed are put in place to ensure the success of this information systems in the country. The future of this type of information looks bright due to the input of all the involved sectors trying to improve the approaches. Bibliography European Space Agency. Why Europe needs Galileo.web Galilelo (2003).Mission Requirement Document (MRD). European Commission. Issue 5.Rev1.1, 27 Lachapelle ,G.M.E.,Cannon,K .,Okeefe,and P.Alves .,2002.How will Galileo improve positioning Performances ?GPS World.ppt 38-48. Leick, A.,2003.GPS satellite surveying ,3rd ed .New York.John Wiley and sons. Read More