GPS strikes again

Not sure that pair should be driving much past the grocery.

The couple in the article did not have cell phone coverage, so no mobile device map apps would have worked.

That's what makes true satellite based GPS units so great for remote RV travel when used carefully along with paper maps, like the outstanding Benchmark series of atlas maps.

Microsoft even offers free built-in map software for Windows 10 laptops that is updated automatically whenever the Internet is available, but is completely usable with no cell tower access because it's all stored right on the laptop. It's almost as good as Google Maps with zooming, search, flat or topo views, etc. ... but can be used stand-alone on a Windows 10 laptop.

We prefer to travel independent of cell towers. Even recent disasters have shown the vulnerability of cellular systems. For an eye opener read articles to see how, and how long, cell towers are powered when external electricity to them is cut off. It's too bad that satellite phones and their services are so expensive and it's too bad that Google Maps - as excellent as it is - doesn't have a stand-alone version for laptops once they are fitted with large enough built-in storage capacity.

In Oregon there have been many, many people stuck up some back road.

Bear Camp Rd is one place that this happens almost once a year in the winter. The GPS doesn't know the road is blocked by snow.

link
The Kim Family's tragic journey

It is interesting how many people think that it is the young ones who are too reliant on electronics. Many of the reported GPS incidents involve people who are far from young.

Hope those folks are OK now, that road looks like one I would want to go on with the Jeep. In Utah one need to plan out there trip if going into the back country. I got caught in a flash flood event in the back country once and got out OK but I think about that when I here about these kind of things.

Where I spent the summer in the Black Hills of SD I have a lot of folks ask for directions as they are lost. My first response to them is no problem but first please turn off the GPS. For some reason the GPS does not do to well in that area as there is to many twisting roads and tunnels I can not count how many times an RV got to a tunnel and then figured out they could not make it through.

JimR

seaeagle2 wrote:
GPS do have a "preview" the route feature where you can view the preview the route and verify the route, just like a paper map....

And you can zoom down to see detail unavailable on a paper map too.

Interesting to note that the article kept referring to a GPS app, which makes me wonder if this was a cell phone/tablet app rather than a full fledged GPS. Which makes their plight even dumber since they would have had access to Google Maps, which would have shown them the route was not for them. Perhaps a case of "Smart Phone, Dumb Users".

GPS do have a "preview" the route feature where you can view the preview the route and verify the route, just like a paper map....

That is why one should ALWAYS check the GPS route on a map before driving or at least use your brain.

I've had GPS send me (or rather try to send me) on some very senic routes.. In most of those cases I was traveling routes I knew 99% already so I really needed the GPS for only one turn... (It did that one OK) so the strange routing was ignored.. But I still verified via maps on that one turn.

Unusual story:

1. Usually it's young folks who trust too much in gizmos to keep them out of trouble. Old folks generally have way more savvy that comes from their years.

2. Their stamina was amazing ... and they do get an A+ for that.

3. Knowing today's practices, their rental may not have had a spare at all or it may have been a thin, skinny temporary spare that would have quickly punctured.

4. "Day trips" can be insidiously deceiving. When out in nature you should always be ready for anything ... whether it be in a car or hiking or whatever.

5. From the car adds on TV, one would think that today's little high tech puddle-jumpers can do it all anywhere, anytime. Of course that isn't the case. When the going might get tough, the tough vehicles might keep you going.

6. That road/trail they were trying to drive on looks like an excellent route to some great boondock camping spots with just the right kind of RV.

We feel our GPS(s) are mearly tools in navigating and as we sawdust makers say, "measure twice, cut once". Generally, we have seen the location we want to drive on a map first and then put in the GPS. We also use Google Earth.

I think that these things are essential and that any AD or rental agreement should warn the user that they are just a tool and to consult a map before using.