Why do my satnav units keep sending me down bus lanes?

There has been lots of flack recently about satnav and I can add to it. Despite recent updates, I was misdirected and going around in circles many times last week in Loughborough by my TomTom. It has the wrong speed warnings in various areas and gets roundabout instructions completely wrong, and last week managed to send me down a bus lane. The whole road was apparently dedicated to buses, not that any were present, but the entry had no barriers and, since I drive a limousine, I can't turn around on a mini roundabout.

Having experimented, what I find astonishing is that two navigation units, aged two years apart, and Google maps all send the user down this bus lane, presumably to gain revenue for Colchester Council. What’s worse is that TomTom and other navigation companies make it very difficult to contact them via their website. You need a serial number to even start the enquiry and since I have several of them I don’t feel this the right attitude to customer care. Perhaps it's time we had a name and shame page for navigation units on your website.

Asked on 6 February 2012 by AF, via email

Answered by Honest John
We crossed Europe from Lausanne in Switzerland to Calais yesterday and the satnav did not recognise a lot of the roads. Basically, anyone who does not carry a map in their car and some knowledge of geography in their head should not use satnav at all because the digitised mapping simply cannot keep up with the pace of changes in road layouts and new building developments. Maps don't either, but at least they show you the directions you need to head, such as the next town on your route, which will be signposted.
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