Death by GPS

[Shadow Catcher]

The report of the women who survived for 7 weeks and the husband who likely has not, may be another victim of a GPS. They had recently acquired a GPS for their trip to Las Vegas.

"A new category of fatal misadventures-- “Death by GPSâ€

[starleen2]

So true We have GPS on our phones and tablet - it does have it's merits, but we also have a current edition of the Rand McNally US map booklet as well. Guess I kinda Ole Fashioned - but can still read a map and ask for directions

[asianflava]

I've had an incident on my way to a teardrop event in North Carolina. I had a feeling that something was amiss when it took me off the main road. I turned around as soon as I had the room which is where it was no longer paved.

I don't trust them either, I still keep an atlas for a backup.

[Deryk the Pirate]

I have a Garmin, as well as a GPS in my droid phone....but I also carry a 2010 Rand Mcnully truckers map book as a backup. Last year I was goin to a camping event in Pa and it said 3 hours to get there from home...fine drove along got within a half hour of my destination and got the "recalculateing" and it took another hour... oh yay lol

[Ratkity]

Also don't depend on them in a large city with tall buildings. It will lose the signal easily: at least the portable Garmins I've had did in Baltimore. My new Garmin is built into a Kenwood double din radio unit and the external antenna is much more reliable in the city. I still have route maps and regular maps set up before I go anywhere.

I think I've seen some signs on one of my fail sites that tell people their GPS is wrong and to turn around when they've reached private property. It happened enough that the owner had to put up a sign!! It would be, however, an interesting way to meet new folks LOL.

Hugs,
Ratkity

[Dale M.]

Yes it amazing how a GPS will recalculate and try to get you some place by any trail, path or track...

There has been over the last few years many a sign put on some of our back road "No Access to Yosemite"...

Young nephew had adventure getting to our new home, GPS took him about 50 miles out of the way through some bad back roads, he was upsets.... The irony of of all was I sent him a specific map and written turn by turn instructions but he felt GPS was more reliable...

Actually its not the GPS 's fault, its the idiot programming the data, they look at a map and have not idea (or care) what type of road it is as long as the can see a "track" from point a to b...

We had a incident where 3 ladies were lost for over 24 hours and ran out of gas on rough back country road and the actually had to walk out to be found....

Always consult a paper map....

Dale

[stumphugger]

Slow Cowboy, it isn't just the people from the east. It is people in general who don't know the area, and don't read maps. I've actually had a guy argue with me about a road because his GPS said it didn't exist, and it did, and he was on the road that did not exist.

I just retired from working for a government agency with a tree on the side of the pickups. So, I got flagged down often. Sometimes the people were in an unnecessary panic--yes, their GPS was telling them the truth. Other times, they were heading into deep snow.

This year will probably be bad. We have had cold weather and the snow isn't melting very fast--in fact it still is piling up. Since the advent of Death By GPS, more gates have been installed on roads and locked because people have to be protected from themselves. This is something that angers us locals a bit, but we have to put up with it.

I don't know what the answer is. People will drive around the gates if they can, get out and move cones and road closed signs, then complain and whine about getting stuck and having to call a tow truck. I've got a lot of stories.
One logger threatened to charge a Subaru driver $100 to pull her out if she tried going up a road AGAIN. He had already pulled her out with his cat.
Her friend got out and refused to ride with her if she kept going. That is what caused her to turn around and go back.

Which also makes me think that SUV advertisements may play a role in having no fear of snow? What do you think? GPS combined with SUVs?

Maps can be trouble also. One motorhome driver came walking down a road and was angry. A guy I know was working along the plowed section and she
stopped and talked to him. He told her the road was closed by snow in the winter. She angrily pointed out that yes, it was closed in the winter but it was May, and no longer winter, it was Spring. Her map said that it was closed in the winter.

[starleen2]

Ever try getting Gas in Picher,OK? Your GPS will tell you there are plenty of Gas stations and restraunts there - But it's a ghost town! I found out by reading my map, GPS, and experience - cause we drove through it - nothing there. I'm glad I had a full tank of Gas

[TheBizMan]

Last summer on a big trip, we were driving down a freeway and the GPS showed us in the middle of a river.

[stumphugger]

The truck is still on the pavement.



He was not familiar with the detour, and the flashing light, and the sign. Two days later, the load was delivered to the mill.

[Kevin & Sandy]

Driving down the road is one thing, but the open ocean is something else !!!

I talked to a guy that liked to sail from Galveston to the Bahamas occasionally, and he said there are people sailing using GPS that SHOULD NOT be out there !!!

They have no other method of navigation that they know how to use!

[starleen2]

The truck is still on the pavement.



He was not familiar with the detour, and the flashing light, and the sign. Two days later, the load was delivered to the mill.

Did it float down to the mill??

[Mightydog]

There are many stories of people being hurt/killed due to not using their head. It comes down to the sniff test--if it doesn't seem like a good idea to follow that road, don't.

There was a family in southern Oregon a few years ago who tried to drive a road that was open in the summer. Unfortunately, they tried to drive it in the winter and ended up stuck in snow...just because MapQuest said it was there.

[JuneBug]

Bless that woman's heart for surviving somehow, someway, both physically and (we hope) mentally.

I got my husband a GPS for Christmas a year ago. "Audrey" has saved us from some arguments over directions, but she has also tried to lead us astray multiple times. We got her updated quite recently, but she still has some "issues."
Last summer I knew the minute she wanted us to turn north to Kaibito that she trying to eventually take us up an 8-mile-long rough dirt back road (a track, really) on the Navajo Reservation to get us to Navajo National Monument (Arizona), when I knew there was a perfectly nice paved road a few miles further on. The paved road to the monument has been there for many years.

Also, some guys on our mountain bike forum went to Big Bend Ranch State Park* (larger than Rhode Island!) to ride the new trail system, which is really two-track ranch roads linked by new singletrack trails. They were navigating by viewing topo maps on their smart phones. The nice thing is that they could call the park rangers on their smart phones when they got lost close to dark with freezing temperatures on the way. They decided to back track to park headquarters and the kind rangers drove out to meet them, load up bikes, and bring them back. Otherwise, they had a great time.

[High Desert]

As soon as we heard the latest story the GPS question came to mind. Sad but true, some folks will let them over rule common sense. The reports said they had spent two days getting stuck and unstuck until they finally buried it for good. They are now searching in the direction that the GPS had told them to keep going for her husband. The wrong direction from town. Sadly its probably more of a recovery than a rescue effort now. That's rough country.

My house is 18 miles from town on pavement. A GPS map makes it almost 40 with 7 of those on dirt. Unmaintained dirt. For the record I do not own a GPS. Neat little gadgets in a large city for sure, but I'm not much on big cities anyway. However I do still know how to read a map and use a compass.