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BMW left teetering on 100ft cliff edge after sat-nav directs driver up steep

A shocked driver is today facing a careless driving charge after his sat-nav left his BMW teetering on the edge of a cliff.
Robert Jones said he trusted the gadget and continued to follow its instructions, even when it took him up a steep, narrow footpath.
He only realised something was wrong when his car hit a fence and came to a stop just inches from a 100ft drop.
The 43-year-old, who works as a delivery driver, described the incident as a 'nightmare'.
He said 'It kept insisting the path was a road, even as it was getting narrower and steeper, so I just trusted it.
'I rely on my sat-nav, I couldn't do without it for my job.
'I guess I'm lucky the car didn't slip all the way over the edge. You don't expect to be taken nearly over a cliff.
Enlarge Cliff hanger: The BMW owned by Robert Jones is hauled back from a 100ft drop by a four-wheel drive quad bike
'It has been a bit of a nightmare.'
A recovery team using a four-wheel drive quad bike took nine hours to haul the BMW away from the cliff edge off Bacup Road in Todmorden, West Yorkshire.
The operation attracted a crowd of astonished residents.
One said: '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?
'I've heard of lorries getting stuck on village roads but this really takes lack of common sense to a new level.'
West Yorkshire Police confirmed they had charged Mr Jones, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire.
A spokesman said: 'Nobody was hurt, but when someone nearly drives off a cliff that shows a lack of care which needs to be investigated.
'The driver has been summonsed to court for driving without care and attention.'
The incident comes as Britain's worst ‘sat-nav blackspots’ were revealed for the first time.
In the worst cases, coaches or trucks have repeatedly become wedged in historic villages, and drivers have even been diverted up railway lines or across non-existent bridges.

Often the problems are caused by foreign drivers using navigation systems that were designed for cars.

Four million sat-navs, which can now cost less than £100, are thought to be in use in the UK.

The new research reveals 21 of the worst blackspots. They include one in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, where drivers are directed to a non-existent crossing over the River Severn.
Lucky escape: Mr Jones, 43, had followed the directions from his sat-nav up a steep, rocky path and only realised he was going the wrong way after crashing into a fence
Others include Rugley Road in Alnwick, near Berwick-upon-Tweed, where trucks often get stuck in a narrow ford; Alfriston, in East Sussex, where lorries are being steered through the historic village; and a right of way in Romiley, Stockport, that has been severely damaged by lorries getting stuck.

Only last week a driver drove 20 feet along the Doncaster to Hull railway line following an instruction from his device.

On another occasion 30 pensioners on a bus became wedged between grass banks on a sharp bend in Stroat, Gloucestershire.

The blackspots were revealed by Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker.

He said: ‘The technology is a blight on many communities. The rise in the use of sat nav devices has led to a doubling of the number of large vehicles hitting rail bridges.

‘This has the potential to be extremely dangerous. The Government must act to make sat nav devices safer for large vehicles.’

He said the Government had promised to update the law in 2006 to make sure the devices were not giving illegal advice to motorists, but he said nothing has been done.

A spokesman for market leader TomTom, said many of the problems were caused by lorry drivers using devices intended for cars, not the specialist models for HGVs that factor in height and width.

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings has already warned that Britain's historic bridges, buildings and roads are being damaged in this way.

And last year Network Rail blamed the devices for a sharp increase in the number of railway bridges being hit by lorries. The number of ‘bridge bashes’ is now more than 2,000 a year.