A couple of visitors to Ireland this Christmas ended up having to be rescued from snow and ice after trusting their satellite navigation system in their hire car.
The couple who rented the car and visited the ancient religious site Glendalough in County Wicklow entered their destination as South Dublin into their satellite navigation system also rented with the car. The system advised them to take the Military Road through the extremely elevated Sally’s Gap which crosses the Wicklow Mountains in Leinster, eastern Ireland.
Mountain rescue received a call from the couple at around 7:30 pm on Christmas night after getting stuck in snow and ice. After rescue the leader of the mountain rescue commented “many people who live or travel in the Wicklow mountains would be familiar with the extremely difficult, and at times, impassable conditions of the Military road.”
The couple who were taken to the warmth where said to be shaken but unhurt and did not realise the system would take them on such an unsuitable route for the weather and time of year. The car is still up on the pass but the expected thaw over the next few days will aid the recovery of the hire car.
