I've experienced one of the worst days for traffic on the roads ever, due to the High winds and rain that hit the UK today.
Travelling from Oxford to York, normal time, 2.5 - 3 hours, today 7.5 hours approx.
The reason for the post is simple, a review of the sat nav and how I managed to cut probably an extra 2 hours min from the journey.
Program the sat nav and leave Oxford, we go via Silverstone (no I didn't go for a spin) moderate traffic so far, moderate wind and some rain. get to the M1, the electronic signs on the M1 report that the M1 is closed at Junction xx, check the sat nav, no report of that incident. I look at the map and take a detour to try and miss it. We end up going through Rugby (no I didn't stop for a quick game), sat in heavy traffic in Rugby and then sat nav women won't shut up, complains about traffic, (no sh*t) I'm already in it, then reports that the M6 is closed where I needed to join it to get back to the M1.
Whilst in traffic I check the reports,
M1 heavy traffic after junction 17 and closed between junction 18 and 19. Fortunately, I left at junction 17
M6 closed at Junction 1, over turned lorry
When I get to the M6 the sat nav women tells me to join the M6, look at the map and the road closed symbol has gone, go to get on the M6 and it is closed,
Sat Nav women is about as much use as my wife at giving directions...
So go round the roundabout and follow the horrific traffic towards Junction 20, to join the M1, I was looking at the map and find a small back road that allows me to drive with no traffic for about 10 miles and get miles ahead of where I was.
(why didn't sat nav women spot it), even my 2 year old baby could of seen that one. (M1 was blocked)
Back on the M1 fairly clear, then believe it or not, the electronic signs on the M1 that I have now re-joined say M1 closed at junction ?? ahhhhhhh
Then another sign, M69 closed at junction xx (thankfully don't need that road)
get to junction ?? after which the M1 is supposed to be closed again, Sat Nav woman is still saying carry on the M1
. Needles to say, I take the exit, wife starts to say she is hungry, so as we stop off at the first hotel, restaurant we come across to grab some food, find one called Dakota. Turns out to be a bit of a conference hotel, but the restaurant is very good, most impressed, just had a Sirloin, wife has lemon sole. I would have stayed the night just so I could have ordered a bottle of the Borolo, but wife says we have to get back home
...
After 2 main courses, some side dishes, coffee and soft drinks and now £50 poorer we head off, I think forget the M1, I'll head for the A1, so start across country and Sat Nav woman will not shut up, telling me to turn round etc.. get as far as Worksop and she gives up telling me what to do and goes with the flow, now agrees to try the A1. Thought I'd grab some gas in case I get badly stuck in traffic.
Finally get to the A1 and traffic is moving ok, then
electronic sign says A1 ahead closed upturned lorry, Sat Nav map agrees and shows where it is. So carry on, and just as the traffic is starting to build up, I spot a small exit road and a small road heading north on the map, I just take it, this beautiful little road, with almost no traffic except a few cars doing the same thing are motoring along, Sat Nav woman finally realises what I'm doing and now agrees and she kindly provides directions which takes me to the junction just ahead of the upturned lorry where the A1 is blocked.
Virtually no traffic ahead now, so just drive along, not really motoring as I just came to the conclusion that it was not worth it in the weather and it really wasn't going to make much difference to the time we get home.
Another electronic sign, 40mph and outside lane closed,
traffic starts to build up, but not too bad as the A1 was blocked further back, we get through on the hard shoulder, (believe it or not, it was another upturned lorry) carry on, and notice no oncoming traffic on the other carriageway, then all of a sudden the biggest traffic jam, another upturned lorry blocking the road and the tailback went on for miles and miles, thankfully my side was very clear.
At this stage I just set the cruise control to 70, actually managed some ok milage, I've never reset the computer but it now reads 12.3mpg, more impressive though, 3/4 of a tank of gas and the computer says 260 miles left, wow
Rest of the journey was pretty straight forward. I zoomed right out on the map to see if there were many traffic notices and they were everywhere, lots of closed roads...
Arrive home and unload the car and then notice the tree next our front gate has been blown down... never did like it...
One of the most annoying things is that the electronic signs on the M1 were telling articulated lorries to get off the motorway, but they just continued.
When we got back my wife watched the news to see what it was saying and she mentioned that one lorry driver had died in an accident. Which is very sobering when we saw a couple that had turned over... hope there are no more fatalities.
I learnt a few things.
Sat Nav woman is stupid
Does anyone know if Sat Nav man is any better?
The traffic information is a bit hit and miss, but what I find to be really bad is that the sat nav did not change the routes where the road ahead was blocked.
It would say things like "there is traffic on your route, recalculating route" then did not appear to make any changes.
The map is excellent, zoom feature is fantastic.
Improvements for sat nav: Sort out the traffic info, it should be much more accurate and up to date. It should also work better and faster at avoiding the traffic. Some of the roads I took were very small but saved a huge amount of time which the sat nav just ignored.
Improvements for human: Don't order the sirloin, as everyone knows fish feeds the brain so next time order the lemon sole.
The car... no problems drives like a dream, got back and the oil level is at 0.2l and warning light has just started to show, picked the car up after the 1200 mile service with 0.8 and it now has just under 5K miles so guess that is normal.
Only complaint is a 525d driver who thought I was going to race him, whilst I had my wife and baby in the car...
Hope all the UK board members are safe and sound....
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