Couple stranded 3 days after GPS leads them astray

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/12/28/national/a102303S31.DTL&tsp=1

12-28) 11:47 PST Klamath Falls, Ore. (AP) --

A Nevada couple letting their SUV's navigation system guide them through the high desert of Eastern Oregon got stuck in snow for three days when the GPS unit sent them down a remote forest road.

On Sunday, atmospheric conditions apparently changed enough for their GPS-enabled cell phone to get a weak signal and relay coordinates to a dispatcher, Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger said.

"GPS almost did 'em in and GPS saved 'em," Evinger said. "It will give you options to pick the shortest route. You certainly get the shortest route. But it may not be a safe route."

Evinger said a Lake County deputy found the couple in the Winema-Fremont National Forest outside the small town of Silver Lake on Sunday afternoon and pulled their four-wheel-drive Toyota Sequoia out of the snow with a winch.

John Rhoads, 65, and his wife, Starry Bush-Rhoads, 67, made it home safely to Reno, Nev., Evinger said.

The couple was well-equipped for winter travel, carrying food, water and warm clothes, the sheriff said.

"Their statement was, being prepared saved their life," he said.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/12/28/national/a102303S31.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0b14zs86W

[Brickbat]

1. I would never follow one of those.

Out here in the boonies, online maps and GPS systems are often just plain wrong.

[Eric J in MN]

5. In Minneapolis, my GPS often says to go the wrong way on one-way streets.

I'm still glad I have a GPS, though.

[Brickbat]

9. I'm curious, what do you use it for?

[izquierdista]

26. Must be a great way to meet people.

:toast:

[Eric J in MN]

37. When I'm driving someplace new, it helps me find the place.

When I'm driving someplace I've been to before, it help me keep track of the distance.

[Brickbat]

42. I ask in the nicest, least-Luddite way possible:

How is it easier/more useful than regular direction, and why keep track of the distance?

[Eric J in MN]

43. As I drive, it says in a recorded voice...

.."Right-turn ahead," and then after I make the turn, it tells me when there is another right-turn (or left-turn) ahead, etc.

Regarding distance, if I'm on the highway, and I don't recognize that stretch of highway, then it's reassuring to see that the exit is in 2 miles, instead of wondering if I missed the exit.

[Brickbat]

44. OK.

I just don't see the use in that. Interesting.

[tridim]

2. That story could be about my parents.

Not a year goes by that my Mom doesn't remind me to take extra coats, food, candles, etc when I travel.

But my dad would have certainly had extra google maps already printed before trusting his GPS.

[hayu_lol]

7. Here in Klamath County(K-Falls), we have all these...

spaghetti-like logging roads. In the winter, they are close enough to being impassable as any road anywhere in the world. Coastal mountain roads are the same. People from out of the area, and sometimes locals as well, frequently die by trying these...for a shortcut.

We are surrounded by real wilderness here.

[marybourg]

14. Google maps sent me from Long Island to Connecticut across the

Long Island Sound, saying that was the fastest route, "only 6 mi."

[KittyWampus]

20. there are two ferries going that route though.

:)

As the crow flies.

[marybourg]

31. But not from Great Neck, which is where I was. lol ! ! nt.

[SidDithers]

39. Fun with Google Maps ...

get Directions from San Francisco to Canberra, Australia.



:rofl:

Sid

[Better Today]

17. Google maps are often wrong as well. Old time surveyed maps are the best

for backup.

I was involved in aerial photography for a long time and when google maps, mapquest,et al came out, everyone switched to using them to let us know the area they wanted shots for. Unfortunately 2 out of ten didn't exist in real life as they appeared to on google maps.

[graywarrior]

19. Google maps place cities where they do not exist.

[liberal N proud]

3. The GPS said turn left

It probably meant two miles down the road, but they turned when it said left.

I honestly believe this is part of the reason we have so many left lane squatters now.

[brooklynite]

4. My GPS tried to send my car on hikkng trains in Glacier National Park...

Always good to double-check with a map

[Bluebear]

6. "Starry Bush Roads"? Ay yi yi.

:)

[smokey nj]

15. Best porn star name since Buck Naked and Linda Lay.

[ixion]

8. Trust but verify your GPS...

I love mine, and use it on short or long trips alike, even for running to a spot around town sometimes.

But I still spot check it, and still validate the route before actually going down that path. :)

[Better Today]

16. And keep those old fashioned paper maps and atlases handy in the car

just in case. And no, google maps may not be any more accurate than GPS, so go buy some real maps to keep handy when you are heading out to areas where you'll be away from population centers or major highways.

[benld74]

10. Technology DOES NOT protect against STUPID!

[Goldstein1984]

11. I see this all the time in Alaska with regular GPS units

people taking to the woods without having any idea how to navigate if the GPS dies, or if a trails isn't where the map says it's supposed to be.

Whether on or off road, the principle is the same: Nobody should rely solely on a GPS. Carry a real map in the car. Carry a map and compass off road.

Kudos to this couple for being so prepared for an emergency!

[Delphinus]

18. Agreed:

Kudos to this couple for being so prepared for an emergency.

[goldcanyonaz]

12. We travel with something called a map. It's the only way to a successful trip IMO.

[Libertas1776]

13. That reminds me of a Robin Williams joke

that goes something like "I was driving across the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge and the GPS said 'turn left now.' I don't think so H.A.L."

[Javaman]

21. I use the old fashion GPS...

a map.

[Hoopla Phil]

22. For Christs sake. Why are people unrecing this thread?! K and R n/t

[A HERETIC I AM]

23. Probably a couple of DU'rs trying to find DemoTex 2 months too late.

Sounds like someone trying to find Demo's fire lookout and didn't realize he had been home for 2 months now.

[kestrel91316]

24. Never go anywhere like that without a good map, a good compass,

and the skill to use them.

Orienteering ought to be a required class in every junior high or high school.

[MercutioATC]

25. GPS units aren't psychic. They do what they're programmed to do.

It's great technology, but if you ask for the shortest route (most do it by default) you'll get the SHORTEST route.

[Raine]

27. If I had followed what my GPS told me to do

I would've ended up entering the freeway via the exit! :scared:

[DemoTex]

28. Silver Lake was 40 miles due south of my lookout tower ..

It is a beautiful area, along the Oregon Scenic Outback Highway 31. I spotted a few fires down there in the Winema-Fremont forests. But I wouldn't want to get stuck there in a wicked wilderness blizzard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXLgcIDqc98
Three hours into the wicked wilderness blizzard of October 3-4, 2009 (video by DemoTex)

[ljm2002]

29. Yes, it's a good thing they were prepared...

...with plenty of warm clothes, water and food.

But geez, people. You don't look for the "shortest route" in the middle of winter in a remote area, especially when the GPS has you turning onto a narrow, forest service road. If they had even a little bit of common sense they would have turned back and found one of those well-traveled, wide, plowed roads. You know, the kind you can actually get through on this time of year. The kind where if you do experience mechanical problems or get stuck, someone will come along and find you before you freeze to death.

Sounds like they thought their SUV would just get 'em through it. What they did was very risky and they are lucky to be alive. I'm afraid I can't jump on any bandwagons congratulating them for their survival preparedness. The first rule of survival preparedness is, don't do anything stupid. Nature is very unforgiving.

These people were really smart to carry supplies to help them survive; and really, really dumb to follow their GPS down a remote road that made it necessary to utilize those supplies for survival.

[L0oniX]

30. This is what happens when you can't read maps...

[pipi_k]

32. GPS nearly ruined a wedding

this past October when my youngest stepdaughter wanted to have her wedding at my house. She and two others were on their way here from a nearby town and she wasn't paying attention...the driver followed GPS and got them all stuck on a big rock in the middle of the woods. They got out and walked to the nearest house, and luckily the guy there was friendly and called us to let us know that the bride was OK (their cell phones didn't pick up a signal where they were).

A search party went out to rescue the bride and stay with the SUV which was stuck on the rock and leaking oil out the crushed oilpan. So the bride gets here, but the groom is one of those who went out to bring the SUV back and they're having trouble getting the SUV off the rock, and their cell phones don't work.

anyway, the wedding was held almost 4 hours late.

Oh, and the physical therapist who was coming to the house after Mr Pip's surgery nearly got lost on the same road using GPS that wrongly said that this cowpath from hell was a shortcut to our house. She was scared shitless and nearly in tears when she showed up.

We've been here nearly 14 years and directions are easy to follow. Now, because of GPS, we have to tell people that there is NO shortcut to our house. Do NOT trust GPS...

to my house, anyway.

[Nikki Stone1]

33. I wonder if they can sue.

They could have died based on faulty information.

[taterguy]

38. There was a road where the GPS said it is, just not a passable road

[depakid]

34. Happened to another couple earlier this year on the same road that stranded the Kim family

killing the father.

I use a hand held GPS for two purposes only:

To help determine where we are- and to estimate altitude.

Sound advice for the wary.

Interestingly enough, the story also made the Sydney Morning Herald (and on Boxing Day, a friends and I traded humorous stories about younger kids who are incapable of using maps & a compass).

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/cartech/gps-leads-couple-into-deadly-trap-20091229-lhtq.html

[calico1]

35. I inherited my mom's really bad sense of direction

which is why I thought GPS devices were the greatest invention since sliced bread when they came out!

I would say that mine is good about 80% of the time but I have learned to also print out mapquest directions when I am going somewhere that I am not familiar with.

It's a good thing I had written directions when I went on a job interview recently. My GPS was telling me to get off an exit that I knew was wrong.

My boyfriend's GPS tried to get him to board a ferry in the middle of winter last year when he was on his way home from a race.


So...maps are definitely not obsolete. And GPS is not always right.

[vadawg]

40. we have them in our cruisers and we call them dumb dumb

never rely on them for your life, and people just because you have a suv it dosent mean you can drive off road, you need a skill set and the basic knowledge on how to manouver the vehicle and how to use stuff like shovels and jacks to get you clear. It always amazes me the number of people who get stuck thinking that just by turning on 4 wheel drive they can go anywhere...

[LWolf]

36. I'm glad they made it out.

Some of those forest roads in that area are a bitch to negotiate even in summer.

Especially hauling a horse trailer.

I found that out a couple of summers ago; I was just a passenger, but it was my trailer and my horses, and I was sweating and holding my breath all the way out of the forest.

I've never been so glad to find a "mosquito festival" going on when we hit town. As long as there were straight, paved, flat roads, the mosquitoes were fine. ;)

[CreekDog]

41. There are about 4 paved roads in Eastern Oregon

nobody should be getting lost out there.

:wtf:

and i don't care where your GPS leads you, if you are able to drive your car to do what the GPS says, you should be looking at the road conditions and noticing whether the snow is making things impassable.

what the hell.

and I say this as someone who has spent my fair share of time in that region, on and off highway/pavement.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/creekdog/4082607574/