Death by GPS

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Long article on people who blindly followed the directions of their GPS and it turned out bad . . .

http://arstechnica.com/cars/2016/05/death-by-gps/

 

[Van-Tramp]

Yep, got one of those stories myself http://www.van-tramp.com/wp/a-week-near-mulege/

 

[Spirituallifetime]

I remember that fisrt one from the local paper here in Elko. That time of year those roads between mountain city highway and Jarbidge are usually coverd in snow and impassible. Most people don't. Realize Northeastern Nevada is a vary harsh arctic like environment in the winter and mountains rising up to 10,000 feet. In the spring it can still get snow and very cold temperatures in these areas.

 

[highdesertranger]

sad stories, but true. I see this all the time. once came across a Porsche 911 on the Hunter Mountain road in Death Valley. this is basically a jeep trail. he said his GPS said this was a short cut. haha short cut, wait to you get the tow bill I thought to myself. asked him if he wanted a ride, he said no just pull me out of this rut. so we pulled him out and notice a huge puddle of oil. he obliviously did something to loose his oil. so I asked him again, you sure you don't want a ride while I pointing at the puddle of oil. now he got a little agitated and snapped back that he didn't want a ride as the GPS said the main road was only a couple of miles away. haha, again I thought, that main road your GPS is showing is the Saline Valley road, hardly a main road. I doubt he ever made it to the "main road". another time in an out of the way bar in nowhere Nevada. the locals were telling a story about some tourists came into the bar and asked if this was the short cut to such and such, as that what their GPS said. one of the locals said sure it's the short cut if you have 4wd and 10 ply tires. they all rolled in laughter. because the tourists were driving a 2wd SUV. so in summary, GPS is a great tool but like any tool it's only as good as the person using it. the smart back road traveler always has good maps and navigation skills. the GPS is just another tool and not the ONLY tool. highdesertranger

 

[LeeRevell]

I too have found the GPS a handy tool that is certainly NOT 100% reliable!  My Verizon phone's VZNavigator app as proven better around town than any of my four dedicated GPS units.  But even it can get confused and doesn't have all the neato geewhiz features of a true GPS.  I always keep a map handy!

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I still have and use a map book for my area with all the streets town by town. Showed my nieces and nephews the other day and they couldn't comprehend how someone could look at that and get from A to B. I have a GPS too, but like to see the route on paper ahead of time. Didn't really consider myself that old at 35, but I guess I was one of the last birth years to grow up with out a computer, cell phone, internet, gps etc. But my my early 20's it was all becoming the norm. I know some of you will laugh at that as you were lucky enough to not have it until well past your 20's. I have a love/hate relationship with technology as i'm sure many do.

I helped my brother move to NYC about ten years ago and have a lot of experience driving larger vehicles so offered to drive the rental truck and said i'd follow him. Of course the GPS took him on all the parkways with low clearances and he was beeping, honking, flashing his lights at me thinking I wasn't paying attention and going to miss the exit. I had the address and knew I could get there easy enough. Anyways, when I arrived and he asked why I didn't follow him I told him big trucks and parkways don't mix. He was like " I'm glad you drove the truck because I had no idea about low bridges, just assumed any vehicle can be driven on any paved road" Love him to death, but sometimes I wonder how he's done so well for himself.

 

[Milk Hauler]

Truck drivers seem the worst about blindly following a gps. Guys now a days do 2 weeks in a classroom, and are handed a set of keys to a 40 ton
$230,000 trk and trl. Scary thing is most are clueless in how to read a map, or even know what to do if they hit black ice.

These are the same guys who run under bridges clearly marked "Low Clearance"

I talked to this Haitian guy who claims never have even driven a car before he got his cdl in the US.

Yes thats a bike trail. How the F did he even get that far? He had his gps on Pedestrian Mode! [emoji33]

Sent from my SCH-S968C using Tapatalk

 

[akrvbob]

People get mad at me when I don't give GPS coordinates to my camps. But this is why! On the pavement they are often wrong but just an inconvience. Once you leave the pavement they are usually very wrong and the costs can be very high.

When I was a campground host in the Sierras for 3 years, whenever the hosts got together we'd swap stories of the ludicrous things people did because the GPS told them to. They still swear there is a back entrance into Yosemite except it is an old, abandoned Jeep trail a horse could barely make.
Bob

 

[Vanada]

Precisely why I refuse to own a smartphone. The upcoming generation is going to be so dependent on these things it's unreal. Plus, I really enjoy map reading!

 

[LoupGarou]

On a trip down into Mainland Mexico my Garmin GPS worked well. But there were some things I did to ensure that it did so.

- I planned my intended route in Garmin Basecamp using the map-set stored in the GPS and verified the route using Goggle Earth. The map-set I used was Garmin's City Navigator North America NT 2016.1. I also had a Mexico map-set from OSM as a backup.
- I turned off 'Auto Re-route' on the GPS. Should I stray off my route. I didn't want the GPS to recalculate the route and deviate from the one I had planned in Garmin Basecamp. Should I stay off my planned route, I can zoom out on the GPS and work my way back to it, pick it up and continue on.
- I turned 'Tracking' and track 'Display On Map' on, so I can see where I'm at, where I'm going and where I've been, all at the same time.

 

[Reno]

Precisely why I refuse to own a smartphone. The upcoming generation is going to be so dependent on these things it's unreal. Plus, I really enjoy map reading!

Vanada,
A smart phone is a useful tool with many uses. I, on the other hand, refuse to own a Swiss Army knife because it has a nail file

 

[sushidog]

The same is true for Map Quest. It once sent me down a single lane road. If I would have met any traffic coming in the opposite direction, one of us would have had to back up, and pulling a trailer that would have been difficult, for sure.

Chip

 

[Vanada]

Vanada,
A smart phone is a useful tool with many uses. I, on the other hand, refuse to own a Swiss Army knife because it has a nail file

I'm guessing the Swiss Army knife bit is an analogy. Whilst that is true, some people defend them so furiously and with such vitriol it's concurrent with addiction. I think for your generation you can see it for what it is (a useful tool) and use it accordingly, but I'm 25 and already have friends who almost cease to function if their phone runs out of battery. I've been with people in foreign towns, lost, no map etc. and they started to panic. It genuinely hadn't occurred to them to walk into a store and ask another person for help or directions. Maybe the people who can't problem solve now never could whether they have the device or not. Perhaps we are better now with smart phones than we were but personally I'm absolutely fine without a computer in my pocket and for some reason that offends people. :huh:

 

[highdesertranger]

I agree with you Vanada. I find the smart phones end up dummying up the user. plus they do not work well in the sticks. highdesertranger

 

[rvwandering]

We bought a GPS last November after years of resisting the purchase. I'd never used one for anything and but now I love it. I always check the route on Google satellite view and have a paper map for back up.

The things it really comes in handy for are saving the co-ordinates of good boondocking spots for future visits and having a bit of warning when we're approaching a hard to see turn off into a boondocking location.

 

[Gary68]

seen it first hand,out chainsawing fire wood and look over and there is some city folk in their city suv,gps sent them in the middle of the coast range for a scenic route to the coast and then it showed them driving through forest and where completely lost, you can do it on a bike or quad if you can get by all the gates

i still use the sun

 

[ggwoman]

sad stories,  but true.  I see this all the time.  once came across a Porsche 911 on the Hunter Mountain road in Death Valley.  this is basically a jeep trail.  he said his GPS said this was a short cut.  haha short cut,  wait to you get the tow bill I thought to myself.  asked him if he wanted a ride,  he said no just pull me out of this rut.  so we pulled him out and notice a huge puddle of oil.  he obliviously did something to loose his oil.  so I asked him again,  you sure you don't want a ride while I  pointing at the puddle of oil.  now he got a little agitated and snapped  back that he didn't want a ride as the GPS said the main road was only a couple of miles away.  haha,  again I thought,  that main road your GPS is showing is the Saline Valley road,  hardly a main road.  I doubt he ever made it to the "main road".     highdesertranger

HDR, I would most definitely have taken you up on your offer for a ride. What a fool! A huge oil puddle?  He must have really bottomed out, couldn't he see that? But I guess so many people don't even know the basics of a vehicle anymore either.  Death Valley.  The name says it all.    I remember a few years back about the German family who got lost out there.  

I wonder whatever happened to that guy?  Along the same lines was a recent news article about a woman who ended up lost out in the desert.  I don't know why people don't follow the basics of being lost like STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE so the searchers can find you!  At least make a trail of rock signs as you go if you must find better shelter or something, so you can be found.  I thought this lady was tres stupid.  More worried about getting a cell phone signal than thinking straight. the authorities found her car 3 days into the search , but it took 9 days and they had a hard time finding her cause she decided to wander away to get a cell phone signal.     http://wtvr.com/2016/04/13/72-year-...rescued-after-using-sticks-to-spell-out-help/

 

[Rugster]

I drove a group of friends to a tournament and when we got back to our hometown, I gave the youngest in our group, a teenager, a ride home. I knew basically where he lived. It was about two miles away from where we were, maybe three street to get to his home. He had to use the GPS to get directions!

I was blown away the kid had no idea how to get to his house from two miles away......

 

[USExplorer]

My dad likes to use GPS directions when he travels. Back in December when we went on a trip to the Florida Keys his GPS kept telling him in an annoying voice to turn off the highway. I muted it and used a paper map to figure out the best way to get around.

I use my GPS to tell me where I am and give me a map of my surroundings. I also use it to find the nearest library, park or Walmart on occasion. For route planning, I use the complimentary state map or my Rand McNally atlas. Both show whether a road is paved or unpaved, as well as elevation (for passes) and seasonal closures. I get local advice if I plan to drive a long unpaved road in unknown condition.