In today's technologically focused world the slightest electronic glitch can have great consequences. This much was made clear by the general hysteria which followed the millennium bug warnings and in the public's reaction to a recent sat nav error.

The so called 'leap year' virus affected TomTom systems in various countries, including the UK, Australia, Denmark and Switzerland. Many drivers were left scratching their heads after seeing the grey screen of doom and a message which told of a GPS signal detection failure.

One motorist said, “I assumed it [the sat nav] had broken but when I went to check TomTom's website I saw there were similar complaints about a range of models on its discussion boards. I feel this should have been made public earlier to alert customers to the problem.”

The general outpouring of customer discontentment reflects the level of impact which the bug had. It is thought that it left many people in limbo, not knowing the way to their chosen destinations.

Perhaps motorists should see such events as a clear signal of their over-reliance on in-car devices. Such problems would certainly have never arisen in the days when people spent time consulting maps and planning their road-trips in advance.

Labels: destination, electronic, error, GPS signal, leap year, maps, millennium bug, motorist, road-trip, sat nav, TomTom