Action 'needed' on sat-nav routes

This office in Llangadog has been struck three times

Ministers have been urged in the House of Lords to curb the problem of satellite navigation systems directing drivers along unsuitable roads.

Crossbencher Viscount Tenby said the "unregulated information" was causing juggernauts to be "stuck in lanes" and "pieces being taken out of buildings".

He argued that providers needed to give information on the size and weight of vehicles that can use specific routes.

Lord Bassam said a consultation on the issue was set to be published shortly.

Lord Tenby said information from sat-nav systems was resulting in "whole villages being cut off for days on end by juggernauts stuck in lanes, pieces being taken out of buildings, heavy use of minor roads by traffic on surfaces not designed for it".

'Extensive' consultation

But Lord Bassam of Brighton, for the government, insisted the Department for Transport was in "continuous" discussions with sat-nav providers on these issues.

"We intend bringing forward the fruits of our consultation and how we can secure a better management of sat-nav systems," he said.

The consultation, which began in October 2006 "was extensive", he said.

"We are very close the point of publication. The problem with this field is that technology is constantly changing and improving and it is hard to legislate to keep ahead of that.

"I think the approach we have adopted, of trying to work with the industry, is very advisable."

The peer said a government survey of 40 councils suggested there were few reported incidents concerning sat-nav systems, but those that had occurred were generally reported in the press.

Conservative Baroness Sharples asked if all ministerial cars were fitted with sat-nav.

Lord Bassam replied: "Not all of them do. We rely in some measure on the intelligence of our drivers, which is very good."