Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger has blasted drivers who rely on satellite navigation systems to find their way around, calling sat-nav users “gormless”.
The Tory minister told the Commons that it was “high time” the law was changed to “make the buck stop where it should” and “put the blame where it belongs”.
Reeling off a list of incidents where drivers have become lost or stuck when using sat-navs, Liddell-Grainger called for the introduction of a new bill to curb the use of the devices in the UK.
“In the old days we carried maps and — dare I say it? — used our intelligence. We stopped the car, wound down the window and asked somebody where we were,” Mr Liddell-Grainger said.
Under the MP’s proposal, the Secretary of State would establish a scheme under which drivers who cause damage to local areas after getting stuck following sat-nav directions could face heavy fines.
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 headlong in one or two cases into rivers.
“Sat navigation is supposed to take the worry out of motoring. Tell that to a party of schoolchildren who recently got stuck on a coach bound for Henry VIII's palace and were led to Islington instead.
“I realise, obviously, Islington may become of importance next week as the international shrine for the Labour Party but it makes no difference,” he added. “Henry VIII would not have been seen dead in the place. As for the poor children, it was a bit of a disappointing day.”
The MP argued that “far too many drivers blithely assume it's the fault of the box of electronic tricks when they end up lost”, and said “gormless” drivers “might as well drive blindfolded”.
His proposal comes just days after the Department for Transport’s annual National Travel Survey showed that, for the first time, the majority of drivers now use sat-navs.
According to the survey, 52 per cent of car and van drivers use the gadgets to get them to their destination, compared to just 48 per cent of drivers who had one in 2013.
Liddell-Grainger’s proposed Satellite Navigation Bill was listed for a second reading in parliament on October 23rd, but it’s thought to be unlikely to become law due to a lack of time.
