MP in sat-nav law change to curtail 'gormless drivers'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-34190993

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An MP has called for a change in law to stop "gormless drivers" who rely on sat-navs from getting stuck under bridges and in rivers.

Ian Liddell-Grainger, Tory MP for West Somerset and Bridgwater, said it was "high time" the law was changed to "make the buck stop where it should".

"I admire the wizardry of sat-navs but I'm painfully aware it doesn't always work," he told the Commons.

The MP introduced the 10-minute bill for Parliament on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr Liddell-Grainger wants to ensure that UK providers of sat-nav services would provide real-time updates on route suitability.

He cited the example of a Belgian truck driver in Wadebridge in Cornwall who drove into an unsuitable cul-de-sac, tried to reverse out and "demolished quite impressively" a roundabout and six parked cars.

He said: "The purpose of my Bill is quite simple, it's to stop heavy lorries getting stuck under low bridges, on roads far too narrow for their trailers, up perilous mountains, across boggy fields or [driving] headlong in one or two cases into rivers.

"Sat navigation is supposed to take the worry out of motoring."

The bill is unlikely to receive the parliamentary time required to become law but it is next scheduled for discussion next month.