GPS Tresspassers

Michael Soldan

Well-known Member
I was just reading the threads on trespassers. These GPS systems often lead people into wrong routes. Often the data has been for roads and side roads that may no longer exist,mountain and logging roads that have become overgrown and roads that have been turned back into their natural environment. We recently had one here where a lady following her GPS one foggy morning ended up driving down a street and into a boat launch where she had to be rescued. Another that comes to mind is the couple whose GPS took them into a logging road where they got stuck, he went for help and was never seen again, she survived almost three weeks in the vehicle before she was rescued. Someone I know told me his GPS took him down a side road which eventually became narrower and more overgrown until it was a mere cow path,he eventually found a safe place to turn around. I trust my GPS but I have a map book in the car too, I always look at the route in a map book and then I know my GPS is not taking me on a cow path. Getting lost can be easy, following someone else's directions can also confuse and get you lost.
 
When I was doing insurance inspections, I lived by my GPS unit, and it wasn't infallible.

It's an incredible tool, but that's all it is. You still have to have a good idea of where you intend to go.
 
A bit of common sense should be used also.
There was a car train accident in town where the
young lady said the GPS said to go that way.
There wasn't even a service road along the tracks.
She went down the tracks!
She got out of the car and went for help when she
got hung up. Too late though, CRUNCH !!

Steve A W
 
Some people seem to have a hard time comprehending that a sign stating DEAD END or ROAD CLOSED will nnalert any GPS unit manufactured today. Because of that fact it is good when the road crews provide a turn around spot at the place the bridge was removed 15 years ago.
 
The world would be so boring and mundane without a few idiots thrown in to liven things up though. I know I'd sure miss them.
 
Company I worked for put GPS units on our trucks. Biggest mistake they ever made. More time and money lost. Than the things were worth.
 
Not as if paper maps were more reliable or less able to get people in trouble. A couple of years ago I was in an area I didn't know well and had a current map that showed that the road I was on intersected a few miles ahead with the road I wanted to get to. But at one point the road turned from asphalt to gravel, then to rutted dirt, then to ruts with coconut-sized rocks sticking out (I switched to 4WD) before going back to asphalt again. Just there I saw a "Road Ends" sign in my rear-view mirror, but there hadn't been one in the direction I was going. When I got to my destination I mentioned my adventure to someone and he told me that the road had been closed for about 30 years, and that it was fortunate that I'd been in a truck with off-road tires.
 
The area I live in GPS is useless as the addresses don't match the map. The previous trash company canceled all the contracts in the area last fall. Truck drivers could never find the customer they were looking for. At least the their competitor is bright enough to stop and ask where someone lives.
 
I agree , use the GPS but do not trust it or think it can't err. You gotta watch what you are doing as always and not turn onto RR tracks if the GPS tells you . It is a driving aid but not perfect. I can't wait for computer controlled cars to start crashing.
 
I threw away my garmond, it's another one of those worthless tools. I use google maps on phone, never been sent down the wrong road. It's extremely helpful.
 
I had a computer map do that to me many years ago. Put in an address, had no clue where it was. The map led me down county roads, finally the pavement ended.

I assume if it didn't recognize the address, it sends you to the center of the zip code or center of the county.

Place I used to work, several times we had people show up on the loading dock with a map in hand. It brought them to our location but not our address!
 
Same story. Worst of all, this was in Indiana. Each county has it's on set of numbered roads starting at a central point in that county. So if you are at a numbered pair, and don't know the county you are effectially lost. Calling 911, or the person you are trying to get to may be a total loss. Even people that live there can't find their way around. Ask how I know!
 

Years ago I picked up a hitchhiker on a little frequented back road . On the map it was called the Midland highway at one end and the Midland highland way at the other . Poor bloke got dropped off in the middle of nowhere and spent the night in a field . 'High way' led him to believe he would get lifts easily , not so , he was starving so I bought him lunch at the next town and dropped him off at a town ten kilometres from mine .
Fast forward two years , I am pulled over by a police patrol car for a minor speeding infringement on my new motor bike , the hitchhiker gets out smiles and sends me on my way. Karma is a wonderful thing .
 
Young fellow I know dialed his GPS in for the shortest route home. Barrelling down gravel roads as fast as he could. Came over a slight rise and saw a sign on a bridge reading Max. 5 tons.He had 40 tons of soys on. His speed was probably the only thing that saved him.....that and a quick prayer! Ben
 
4-5 years ago, my daughter had a Garmon or a Tom-tom. (Not sure which) If she typed on her boyfriend's address, that thing would try to lead her down a dirt path that you wouldn't dare try to take if you had recently received a quarter-inch of rain. The road was also so narrow that it had room for only a single lane of traffic.
Some of these electronic gadgets are dumbing down people so bad that there will be no hope for them to exist on their own.
 
If you type in my sisters address on a Garmin...it takes you to a big sycamore tree on the side of the road. No houses around for about a 1/2 mile. LOL








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I worked for a major trucking company, new drivers would use their GPS to get to the Farmland Plant in Crete Ne. It would take them off the interstate onto a two lane paved road that turned into gravel. Quite a few trucks would become stuck or flip over when the driver tried to back out and go over the edge of the road. EVERYONE said but I was following the directions from my GPS device and I can see the Plant from here.
 
At Hannibal MO some units tell you to take 168 north for the shortest route to US61. You turn off a nice four lane 65mph, to a narrow Mo two lane cow path(55 if you can drive that fast) that saves you about 1 mile and takes 15min longer.
 
People depend on those things way too much. I have had people (delivery ,relatives) get sent 2 or 3 miles out of their way to get to my place when I am 1/2 mile off a paved, numbered road. I have one but only use it to find places in cities. On a recent trip to St. Louis, it took us straight to my wife's aunt's house. For traveling nothing beats a good, recent map.
 
A few days ago we stopped in a town in California at a motel right on the highway. The next morning the state people had the on ramp closed to the highway so we tried to drive a few blocks down to see if we could find another ramp and got lost. Then we got out the GPS and it sent us round and round the town and took us back to where we started with the thing instead of the motel. We finally turned it off and got out the compass to stay with the highway and by the time we found a another on ramp all together it took us more than an hour to get on the highway.
 
A couple of years ago I was in Overland Park Kansas at my daughter's place. My other daughter was staying at a hotel, not being familiar with the area I used the GPS to get me there. Three times I went, and three different routes from the same GPS. ???????
 
That post reminded me of the last place I lived. Roads had three names: The name the county called, the 911 name and the name that everyone that lived in the area called it. The GPS data bases were badly mis-programmed. Even where we live now there's a conflict because of the 911 system.
 

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