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Idiots Rule...Again

Talyn

SAINT
Founding Member
This has happened several times in Oregon.

Blindly Following GPS Got 20 Cars Stuck on a Remote Snowy Mountain Road

The drivers wound up on the steep, unmaintained road after GPS apps recommended they take it to avoid interstate traffic in Oregon.


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I drive everywhere, except inside big cities, with just the old-fashioned state highway maps & a Rand McNally.

I've got my best route from MT to W. PA where my last relatives are memorized & can drive it w/o looking at the maps. And I can drive to other US places within 1,000 miles based on memory.

If I have to go into a BIG city (which I really don't have todo anymore) I go online to find the best route then print off the route pages.

IMO, if the cell coverage ever goes down there will be mass panic & my maps will be worth a fortune.
 
I always pick up a road atlas every few years. Even without road hazards or traffic blockages, the nav on my phone has been known to send me on oddball routes and into dead ends, city or country. Another thing that has affected every driver I've talked to is that there are so many towers and different cell providers and signals in the Dallas area you literally can go around in circles - big circles. That's why I memorize the route to the airport, the doc and other key locations.
 
I rarely use my GPS unit. When travelling I do take it with me as a supplement to HC maps, especially if I'm near/transit a big city.

Locally, it's helpful in getting elevation info, but 99% of the time I use a map & compass when out & about to supplement what landmarks I know/can see.
 
If you think it's bad for a car, try following it when driving s tractor-trailer. Even systems that are allegedly designed for use by truckers fail often.

I learned that early on the first time I tried to get directions from a GPS. I was instructed to drive through a residential district via a load zoned overpass. Turned around and reverted to my paper map.

Our company has had drivers blindly follow the lady in the box with bad results. One ended up on a load zoned road in ND. The locals weren't impressed.

The next time you see a truck stranded and wonder how in the world that happened, you may have a little insight. That doesn't make the driver less ignorant, but it may offer some insight into their thought process.

Unless you were that guy who thought it was a good idea to go ahead and cut across the grass between the service road and the freeway in Fort Worth. The sight of a tractor-trailer high bridging that ditch is still one one the more absurd things I have seen. In your case, you are just stupid.
 
My iPhone and Safari Maps GPS has not failed me yet however I re-check it often during long trips to ensure it’s not sending me out of the way under the guise of the shortest distance because sometimes the shortest distance is not what it seems.
 
in the mountain areas it can be really inaccurate. Last time we were up in Portland - it tried to tell me to turn left off the highway - into a wall. Then it ordered me to take an imaginary bridge and finally it ordered merging onto roads that didn't exist. I turned it off and figured out my way through the hills.
 
I used to have a job as Roving Patrol guard for the city. One morning I was following my GPS to a substation in the middle of a park(Palmer Park if you happen to live in Colorado Springs). Anyway following my GPS to the letter I ended up on a sidewalk. Since it was 4:00 in the morning and the roads were empty I turned on my yellow lights and rolled with it. The sidewalk was wide enough for a car and I got to the substation in about a quarter mile. I never got lost like that again
 
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