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Paper maps vs GPS

strollin
Explorer
Explorer
I read people stating constantly in these forums that they don't trust GPS and want to always verify with a paper map.

Can those of you that believe that's true, please explain why you feel a paper map will be any more accurate than a GPS?

I don't know how maps are made exactly but I believe that the map data comes from the same source whether for a paper map or GPS. It seems to me that the process of producing a paper map would be a longer process than putting the map data into a GPS so it follows that the data used to print a map is probably older than the GPS data. Not only that, but often the GPS data can be periodically updated.

Why then should someone trust a paper map more than a GPS?
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69 REPLIES 69

Oldme
Explorer
Explorer
Either one will need the most up to date maps.
Many forget or are upset that GPS is not perfect.
Cities, Counties and States make changes to roads all the time.
Either can be accurate or inaccurate.

fj12ryder
Explorer III
Explorer III
Maybe WAZE isn't such a great thing after all. ๐Ÿ™‚
Howard and Peggy

"Don't Panic"

Gdetrailer
Explorer III
Explorer III
wnjj wrote:
Following a GPS without knowing where you are going can land you in places you didn't want to be in. So can using a paper map. This was 8 1/2 years ago here in Oregon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Kim

Instead of returning to the exit, they consulted a highway map and picked a secondary route that skirted the Wild Rogue Wilderness, a remote area of southwestern Oregon.




Is that the the best you can do?

Now days folks ARE "relying" on technology more and more each day and less on their grey matter between the ears.. It is easy to punch a few numbers and letters into a machine and it spits out a "route"..

A quick search netted me thousands of results on GPS errors and mistakes made by folks relying on GPS directions..

Here is a few..

LINK to GPS dangers

GPS Dangers and Accidents

ยญRemember that parental standby, "If your friends jumped off a cliff, would you?" As it turns out, this is good advice to heed when you use a GPS device: If your GPS tells you to drive off a cliff, would you?

Since GPS navigation systems are now common, a contributing link between the devices and accidents has been identified. While the reasons are varied, it often boils down to humans being human.

One of the most common human errors when it comes to using a GPS device is overconfidence in how smart that navigation system is or isn't. Why plan when your GPS will tell you where to go? Well, GPS devices are fallible; they're made so by satellite communication errors and outdated or inaccurate maps. Even when maps are current, some mapping and navigation information doesn't take into account road types. With this type of software error, the road that may look like the shortest distance between Point A and Point B might actually be an unpaved private drive. If your GPS device doesn't recognize it as such, it could add the road to your route.
See link for more reading..

GPS MISHAPS

GOOGLE MAPS ACCIDENTS

DESERT GPS ACCIDENTS

In this information age, many of us rely on GPS navigation systems in our cars. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) such as Tom Toms, Garmans, Magellans, Earthmates and smart phones can help us with โ€œturn by turnโ€ directions to our destinations. These systems are a great help, but they can also get us into situations that get us lost, or even killed.

How can these digital maps that look so good, lead us to make such foolish mistakes? Almost every week someone pulls into the dirt road that leads to my house thinking theyโ€™re on the road to some location a mile away. (The road has been closed for 20 years.) The road is marked "Private" and "No Exit," but they donโ€™t believe the signs. Sometimes they will try driving past the end of the road and straight into the brush, just because their GPS says the road is there.

Take a place like Death Valley, which got its name when a wagon train from the east tried to find a shorter route to California and got lost in 1849. Each summer in Death Valley, a quarter-million tourists in air-conditioned cars venture into 120-degree heat to take pictures and enjoy the desert. They come from all over the world, but many have the same traveling companion โ€“ a GPS navigation system to help them find the shortest and fastest routes.

In Death Valley, and many other areas, dozens of abandoned or closed dirt roads may lie between you and your destination, so things can get tricky. When youโ€™ve finished exploring an area and then proceed to ask the GPS for the shortest route back home, the GPS will respond, โ€œplease proceed to the highlighted routeโ€. In an area like Death Valley, GPS systems may be relying on old topographical maps and roads that have long been closed.

Your GPS navigation system may say something like, โ€œYou are in a area where no turn by turn information is available. Follow the route on a map.โ€ This is where it gets interesting. The GPS knows where you are, and you tell it where you want to go. So it gives you the shortest route.

Remember, in the desert, the standard GPS may not know where the open roads are, or even if there are any roads. If you follow its route, you may be taken off the road that youโ€™re on, and be directed to follow a road that you can't see. If you are in a 4-wheel drive vehicle, you may even be able to do that for a while. Death Valley Ranger Charlie Callagan says some visitors who've relied on GPS have gotten seriously lost. It happens a couple times a year now, and more and more visitors have GPS devices. If they are found, they say, โ€œI was just doing what the GPS told me.โ€

When you come to a big drop off, do you continue, if the GPS tells you to go right over it?
See link above for more..

MORE GPS ACCIDENTS

GPS also adds another possible hazard.. DISTRACTED DRIVING..

DISTRACTED BY GPS DRIVING

The consequences of distracted driving

Despite these laws and warnings that the use of electronic devices while driving can lead to crashes, injuries and even death, a recent survey by the NHTSA found 660,000 drivers are using cellphones while driving at any given daylight moment in America. In 2011, more than 3,000 people were killed and 387,000 were injured in crashes involving a distracted driver, according to the NHTSA.

The use of cellphones while driving impairs reaction times and nearly quadruples the risk of crashing, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. AAA recommends motorists turn off their phones before driving or pull over to a safe place to talk, send texts or email. When using the GPS function on their phones, AAA recommends people program the GPS while parked to automatically give them audible, turn-by-turn directions so they don't have to look at the phone while driving. AAA is involved in a campaign in those states that do not have texting bans to promote passage of laws banning text messaging while driving.

Marie Montgomery, spokeswoman for the Automobile Club of Southern California, says her organization recommends that people shouldn't use their cellphones at all while driving.

"Anything that takes your eyes off the road for more than two seconds will double your risk of a crash," Montgomery says.
see link above for more..

COURT RULING USING GPS IS DISTRACTED DRIVING

LOS ANGELES (KTLA) โ€” Drivers in California are already banned from talking or texting on cellphones, but now you could get busted for using your GPS as well.

phone-mapSpecifically, just looking at a map on your smartphone could get you a ticket for distracted driving.

A man in Fresno was using his smartphone navigation app to try to get around a traffic jam.

He had his phone in his hand, and the CHP gave him a $160 ticket. He contested the ticket in court and lost.
see link above for more..

wnjj
Explorer II
Explorer II
Following a GPS without knowing where you are going can land you in places you didn't want to be in. So can using a paper map. This was 8 1/2 years ago here in Oregon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Kim

Instead of returning to the exit, they consulted a highway map and picked a secondary route that skirted the Wild Rogue Wilderness, a remote area of southwestern Oregon.

RenoAl
Explorer
Explorer
Paper maps and GPS units are tools. Like an axe and a shovel. Shovels work good at moving dirt and poorly at chopping wood. It is up to the operator/user to determine which tool is best for the job at hand. The soft spongy mass between your ears works well for this application.
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cleo43
Explorer
Explorer
Just 'Punch and Go' on a GPS is like shooting a camera on Program mode, that make bad navigators/photographers.
I prepare my trips using Mapsource to create GPX files, convert GPX to OV2 (for my TomTom). I have 2 Garmins (one hand held, one car GPS) and a TomTom, plus a general paper map of a country before going on a trip. The POI are TRIPLE checked between Garmin, TomTom and Google Map.
Never failed.

AsheGuy
Explorer
Explorer
Gdetrailer wrote:

With all due respect, only a fool blindly, totally relies on a GPS.
I guess you are referring to me since you quoted my post, but I don't see how you arrived at the conclusion from my post that I totally rely on my GPS.

I rely on my prior experience, the GPS, and my own common sense and occasionally a paper map reference. If the GPS chooses to direct me on a route I don't want to take, I either ignore it and it changes the route to follow my actual direction or I insert a waypoint or two to nudge it to the route I want to follow. Works for me.

We routinely go through cities because cities are often one of the things we want to see. The GPS is a great help in anticipating lane changes needed to navigate through a city. We do avoid cities during rush hours and that may explain why we haven't experienced any of the traffic issues you want to avoid.
David & Margaret - 2005 LTV 210B 3S
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Gdetrailer
Explorer III
Explorer III
AsheGuy wrote:
We have been all over the US & Canada some pre-RV and a lot with our RV. Evolved from Rand McNally maps, DeLorme software on a laptop, GPS, and increasingly with my smart phone. Still carry a Rand McNally atlas, but seldom reference it.

As many have said, common sense is the key. Yes, our GPS (4th generation) occasionally does a dumb route, but the aid of the GPS far outweighs this downside. Also, GPS searching for a destination is not up to par with Google Maps on a smart phone and can be maddening at times. But again, the GPS wins out due to its many benefits. To match a GPS with paper maps, it would be necessary to not only carry a road atlas, but also county/province maps of every county/province in North America.

Those that bad mouth GPS's must not understand how to use them without committing blunders and/or what features they have.

And there has not been much mention of the GPS's main feature. It is impossible to ever get totally lost with a GPS. It always knows where you are even if you don't. Just put in a known destination and it will get you from where you are to where you want to be.

I do think GPS's will lose out soon to smart phones/tablets due to their better user interface for generating a route and their searching capability. I often find my Garmin GPS cannot find a destination due to my not matching exactly how it knows that destination, when my Android smart phone instantly finds it. Only a few obstacles remain like the need to be Internet connected and the while driving interface that is still inferior I think to the GPS.


With all due respect, only a fool blindly, totally relies on a GPS.

GPS is not infallible, it MAKES mistakes, often those mistakes are not noticed if you have never traveled in that area. You simply are oblivious to any and all mistakes it makes.

Our first major trip with CoPilot GPS we have pretty much concluded that GPS is NOT for us. Very glad we used the "free" version (although it NAGS you to "upgrade" each time it starts).

The GPS kept insisting on routing us through many highly congested cities that we KNOW to avoid. It doesn't like detours nor short cuts to get around traffic.

The ONLY way to fix that is to input many start and stop points to FORCE the routing to the roads we KNOW that do not contain tons of city traffic, stop lights and 25 MPH and 30 MPH speed zones.

Our conclusion is if we have to put in a bunch of way points we may as well use our paper map, it results in less time and hassle.

If you like your GPS then use it, but keep in mind that it may not be routing you in the best way each and every time. Thats why one should also still uswe your grey matter between the ears and some old fashioned map..

valhalla360
Nomad III
Nomad III
sue.t wrote:
face_down wrote:
Your phone using Google Maps or Waze is the best GPS out there and not even comparable to a paper maps.

We live where there is NO cellular service. We camp even further from cellular service.

If you plan to visit Yukon or Alaska, don't rely on your phone to work along all the highways, or between communities.

GPS comes in handy if you want to know where you're at and what's ahead. Although the mapping here is out of date, so don't be surprised if the GPS shows you going cross country apparently miles from the highway line on the GPS. Some of the maps haven't been updated since the late 1950s - not enough population to make it worthwhile, I guess.


All new phones come with built in GPS that does not need a cell connection. There are plenty of mapping apps available for free that work off line.
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valhalla360
Nomad III
Nomad III
john&bet wrote:
I like a few started traveling across country in the age way before GPS's, '67 to be exact. Been doing it ever since. We did 7k miles last year from Indiana thru many states on our way to Montana. Then we had a chance to go to Portland. On the way there we decided on a side trip to Grand Coulee Dam. For our trip back to Great Falls we headed southeast out of Portland and on over to Idaho up to Missoula and on over to Great Falls on MT. 200. From Great Falls it was on to Rapid City then Cheyenne and then I-80 to Lincoln,Ne. From there it was state,Federal roads thru Missouri, Ill. and home to Indiana. Never once did we use the cheap GPS we have to guide us. No wrong roads taken or lost. Guess I saved a lot of money on those expensive GPS that can get you into trouble. Just my experience and others may be different.


Considering our dedicated GPS is was only $100 and we have two smart phones that came with free mapping...hardly a lot of money saved.

People used to cross oceans using sextants. Sure you can still do it but why go thru the hassle.
Tammy & Mike
Ford F250 V10
2021 Gray Wolf
Gemini Catamaran 34'
Full Time spliting time between boat and RV

strollin
Explorer
Explorer
john&bet wrote:
ik have question for you then. How was it I managed, as a solo 20 year old, to get from southern Indiana to San Bernardino,Ca. in '67 with out a GPS? And from there to Charleston,S.C. in Jan. '70? I did it on time and did not get lost or on wrong road either. I still us my method today. I mostly destination travel not to see a lot of sights on the way. Thus an Atlas is much faster planning tool for me. It also tells where to road is going and stops so I can change roads. I also pay close attention to road side signs. Guess I am just a hard nut to crack.

I don't think anyone has said that you can't navigate cross country using maps instead of GPS. As has been said, both are tools that can be used correctly or incorrectly.

I have used maps and I have used GPS and I don't wish to give up my GPS because I find it to be invaluable. You are entitled to use whichever tool works best for you.

My reason for starting this thread was due to reading many times in various threads that no one should depend on a GPS without double-checking with a paper map, as if for some reason paper maps are somehow more reliable.
Me, her, 2 boys & 2 girls
'05 Chevy 2500HD LT 4x4, D/A
Reese Dual Cam HP
'04 Wilderness Advantage 290FLS
Twin Honda 2000s

"I'd rather wear out than rust out!"

See our pics here

MrWizard
Moderator
Moderator
:B. Here here Me Too
I can explain it to you.
But I Can Not understand it for you !

....

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john_bet
Explorer
Explorer
fj12ryder wrote:
Ah, you just plan in general directions. That could be interesting, as in not my kind of interesting. I like to know that the road I'm on ends up where I want to go.
ik have question for you then. How was it I managed, as a solo 20 year old, to get from southern Indiana to San Bernardino,Ca. in '67 with out a GPS? And from there to Charleston,S.C. in Jan. '70? I did it on time and did not get lost or on wrong road either. I still us my method today. I mostly destination travel not to see a lot of sights on the way. Thus an Atlas is much faster planning tool for me. It also tells where to road is going and stops so I can change roads. I also pay close attention to road side signs. Guess I am just a hard nut to crack.
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fj12ryder
Explorer III
Explorer III
Ah, you just plan in general directions. That could be interesting, as in not my kind of interesting. I like to know that the road I'm on ends up where I want to go.
Howard and Peggy

"Don't Panic"