[OSM-talk] Another argument for Open Street Data ?

Simon Hewison simon at zymurgy.org
Mon Nov 12 15:10:50 GMT 2007


Richard Fairhurst wrote:
> I know the area passingly. There's no way that, using "traditional"  
> navigation techniques, you would choose to drive an HGV via Llangadog.  
> On a printed map, the A4069 is marked as red with countless  
> switchbacks: it's immediately apparent that it's unlikely to be  
> suitable for lorries. "The knowledge", passed on orally from one  
> driver to another, would communicate the same information. But people  
> blindly trust satnavs even though they have neither of these benefits.
> 
> (Here's the road in question on OSM:  
> http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=51.8795&lon=-3.8782&zoom=12&layers=B0F .  
> Interestingly, it's been tagged as "secondary" though it should  
> actually be "primary", perhaps indicating the perceived low quality of  
> the route.)

Looks like the residents of Llangadog have had even more unsuitable traffic 
recently:

 From a recent traffic report:

> Llanwrda (Carmarthenshire)
> Report: A40 both ways closed due to serious accident between A482 (Llandwrda) and Heol Rhos (Llandovery).
> Description: Police are on scene. The road is expected to remain closed for some time.
> Diversion: Motorists are being diverted on the A4069 via Llangadog.
> Last updated: 11 November 2007 at 6.12pm

It's interesting that all the news reports of buildings being crashed into by 
lorries don't actually specify that the road in question has any official 
restrictions or signs about length, weight or width restrictions.

It's also interesting that lots of people are blaming foreign truck drivers.
Maybe if any official signage in the UK was clearly in metric units like the 
rest of the civilised world (sorry to offend any citizens of Burma, or the 
United States of America), it would be much clearer. Should a Polish 
articulated lorry driver driving a truck registered in the Netherlands with a 
trailer owned by an Italian company need to know that the combined truck and 
trailer is longer than 32 feet six inches?

Then they shouldn't need bizarre signs such as
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6959057.stm

-- 
Simon Hewison




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