Driver Led To 100ft Cliff Edge By Sat Nav

A driver has blamed his sat nav for leaving his car teetering on the edge of a cliff after he followed its instructions.

Robert Jones said he trusted his navigational system and continued to follow it when it told him the steep, narrow footpath he was driving on was a road.

Mr Jones, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, now faces court action for driving without due care and attention.

His BMW nearly plunged down a 100ft cliff in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, on Sunday.

He was only stopped from falling after the vehicle rammed into a wire fence.

Police and rescue teams then spent nine hours recovering his car following the incident.

The 43-year-old, who works as a driver, said he relies on his sat nav for his job and described the incident as a "nightmare".

He told the Halifax Evening Courier: "It kept insisting the path was a road, even as it was getting narrower and steeper, so I just trusted it.

"You don't expect to be taken nearly over a cliff."

Mr Jones added: "I guess I'm just lucky the car didn't slip all the way over the edge."

The drama attracted crowds of onlookers in the picturesque market town that borders the Pennines.

One said: "It's like something off the Italian Job, but what a waste of police time.

"It's all well and good trusting your sat nav but how about trusting your eyes and when there's not a road in front of you, don't keep driving."

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "Officers received a call at 11.18am on Sunday March 22 reporting that a BMW was hanging off the edge of a cliff off Bacup Road.

"The driver was a 43-year-old man from Doncaster. He has been summonsed to court for driving without due care and attention."

Source

Reminds me of the old joke,..."What's the difference between porcupines and BMW's?"




"On the porcupine, the prick is on the outside."