Vacation ideas

History is rife with instances of seemingly benign inventions and technological advances that end up undermining the inherent common sense our ancestors enjoyed.  For instance, how many people have you seen spend several minutes searching everywhere for their TV remote control when they could have just changed stations at the box itself?

In recent years, the latest must-have gadget for the discerning motorist is a state-of-the-art GPS, or Sat-Nav system.As drivers become more and more reliant on technology to get where they’re going, it’s no shock to find that people trust their navigation systems more than what they see through the windscreen. 

A widely-reported story from a while back told of drivers passing through the village of Luckington and ending up in the river because their GPS directed them to a bridge that had been closed.  Warning signs on both sides of the road and nothing but an expanse of water ahead of them did nothing to dissuade some drivers, simply because they were told to take that route by a disembodied voice.  Villagers found themselves pulling an average of two cars a day out of the river, and one local resident told The Times newspaper, “When you ask what happened, they say, ‘My sat-nav told me it was this way.’”

In a village called Crackpot (yes, I know), there were several instances of drivers being directed off the main road and onto a stone covered trail that obviously wasn’t suitable for anything but 4×4 vehicles.When the tech-worshipping travellers finally realised their predicament and tried to turn around, they were backing perilously close to the edge of a 100-foot cliff.

It makes you wonder how many times people might have tried to locate the Leeds City Art Gallery, the University of Leeds, or even parking at Leeds Bradford Airport,  and found themselves enjoying the picturesque countryside that surrounds Leeds Castle in Kent instead.