3 ms·

Death by GPS

9 points by hvo 10y ago

ghaff 10y ago
This is a much more detailed and thorough article than most of its type. Among other things, it discusses some of the science behind how we tend to disengage while following a GPS. (Which rings true to me. I find if I'm following directions--whether from a human or a computer--it's hard to simultaneously be fully engaged in making decisions myself. That said, the majority (though not all) of the real horror stories tend to be in the American West. The real issue there is that, contra the full life experience of many visitors, a lot of roads are seasonal, very rough, or just plain undriveable without high clearance 4WD and the ability to operate it. This is really a maps issue rather than a GPS issue. And there have been tragedies based on people following very secondary roads on paper maps as well. The issue is that there's not really an easy classification. After all, there are well graded dirt roads that can be easily travelled by passenger cars that steadily degrade to "I can't believe someone could drive this in a car" levels.
PhantomGremlin 10y ago
The TL;DR of the first couple is they were on the way from Canada to Vegas. They turned off the Interstate onto a road that gradually got worse and worse until it was so narrow that they couldn't even turn around. Nearly two months later, some hunters in ATVs found the wife barely alive in her minivan. The husband died trying to hike out for help. On a more technical level, the article claims it was a Magellan GPS they were using. I've never used that brand, but I've previously used a Garmin GPS that was very good; it never tried to send me onto mountain roads or even inappropriate city streets. IMO Google Maps and Apple Maps are both much worse than my standalone Garmin ever was. As of a few years ago, my 8 y/o maps in my Garmin were much more reliable than the current info used by Google and Apple. I've had Google take me thru residential streets it really had no business in choosing. I've had Apple literally loop me around -> left, left, left, left, left, left, left, left. I stopped after two loops. I only did it the second time because I couldn't believe just how stupid Apple was. My Apple Maps experience was in downtown Portland Oregon just one year ago. So it's clearly an ongoing issue, not part of the initial teething pains which occurred when Apple dumped Google for maps.

9 points by hvo 10y ago

ghaff 10y ago

This is a much more detailed and thorough article than most of its type. Among other things, it discusses some of the science behind how we tend to disengage while following a GPS. (Which rings true to me. I find if I'm following directions--whether from a human or a computer--it's hard to simultaneously be fully engaged in making decisions myself. That said, the majority (though not all) of the real horror stories tend to be in the American West. The real issue there is that, contra the full life experience of many visitors, a lot of roads are seasonal, very rough, or just plain undriveable without high clearance 4WD and the ability to operate it. This is really a maps issue rather than a GPS issue. And there have been tragedies based on people following very secondary roads on paper maps as well. The issue is that there's not really an easy classification. After all, there are well graded dirt roads that can be easily travelled by passenger cars that steadily degrade to "I can't believe someone could drive this in a car" levels.

PhantomGremlin 10y ago

The TL;DR of the first couple is they were on the way from Canada to Vegas. They turned off the Interstate onto a road that gradually got worse and worse until it was so narrow that they couldn't even turn around. Nearly two months later, some hunters in ATVs found the wife barely alive in her minivan. The husband died trying to hike out for help. On a more technical level, the article claims it was a Magellan GPS they were using. I've never used that brand, but I've previously used a Garmin GPS that was very good; it never tried to send me onto mountain roads or even inappropriate city streets. IMO Google Maps and Apple Maps are both much worse than my standalone Garmin ever was. As of a few years ago, my 8 y/o maps in my Garmin were much more reliable than the current info used by Google and Apple. I've had Google take me thru residential streets it really had no business in choosing. I've had Apple literally loop me around -> left, left, left, left, left, left, left, left. I stopped after two loops. I only did it the second time because I couldn't believe just how stupid Apple was. My Apple Maps experience was in downtown Portland Oregon just one year ago. So it's clearly an ongoing issue, not part of the initial teething pains which occurred when Apple dumped Google for maps.