Posted on 02/21/2024 7:11:56 AM PST by george76
Using any of the popular navigation apps in an area with regular roads is fine.
Using any of them to navigate the Australian outback is idiotic.
No sh*t.
Woman’s home demolished after Google Maps error.. Google Maps provided wrong directions.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3414131/posts
Their is only one highway on their route. I don’t believe their story.
There is a funny meme of someone following Google Maps off a cliff. Google Maps is great for the most part. But you have to use common sense if you look around and are getting further away from you destination in more and more remote setting.
“Prepared”
Heading into the bush without long sturdy ropes and a couple of hi-lift jacks? That’s not prepared.
Glad they had enough battery life left to power their drone. They pared their backpack weight down to the essentials and could carry a drone? I could see where it would be useful looking for roads.
Many years ago I was driving between two large US cities. It was my first such drive, so I followed a navigation app.
It started out okay. But after a few turns, four lane roads became two lane roads. The next thing you know, I’m driving through the deep woods on this cinder road. By dumb luck I came upon a paved road, and got to my destination.
It turns out that the app was set to “shortest distance”, not “best route”.
My brother said next time take my girlfriend with me. She would demand that we stop and ask for directions, long before we actually got lost. Good advice there.
“Recalculating.....”
Opinionated Blowhard wrote: “There is a funny meme of someone following Google Maps off a cliff.”
At Fort Benning on the Land Navigation Course before Google Maps/GPS, in every class there were a few who if given a compass azimuth and a distance would follow the azimuth blindly even if it meant swimming a lake. The smart guys would just walk around the lake.
My son was in Greece and went to visit Aristotles grave, got within about a mile and google maps went out, he went a bit further and the trail split, he turned around and went back without seeing it.
Turn off your Brain and follow Google Maps
A couple of years ago, I was cutting through some countryside, trying to get to a small courthouse to do some boundary research. I was using Google Maps & it took me off the paved road & on to a road that quickly deteriorated from gravel to dirt to grass. At first, I thought the gravel was a short cut, but quickly realized I was going to be ‘in trouble’ if I kept going. Fortunately, I found a spot where I could turn around and get out of what was rapidly becoming a bad situation. Since that time, I don’t trust Google Maps.
Just last year, GM told me to turn on a road that was several miles away from the road/driveway I needed to be on. Again, as soon as I turned, it didn’t look right & I stopped immediately & got on the map, scrolled around until I could figure out where I was & where I needed to go. “Main” roads are ok, but if getting off on any smaller roads, just stay sharp & if your spidey sense kicks in, stop & manually check the map.
There first mistake was vacationing in New York.
In this day and age, only an idiot has an experience like this. No emergency beacon? They are cheap and readily available. In most countries you can rent them.
Google Maps sent 18 wheeler trucks and Greyhound bus up jeep roads..
GPS thought they were in Australia. You can see where that would be confusing.
Well, at least they had each other. A whole lot of buggery going on out there.
Remember the Oriental software brainiac from SF that followed his GPS ip an Oregon logging road, snd got stuck? His wife and kid survived, by staying put. He went off for help in winter weather.
I rarely used gps in my trucking career. Road atlas (trucker version), state maps (free at state rest areas), and city maps did the job for me. When google earth came along, I would confirm my route, or look to see if I could confirm a re-route ‘through the woods’ to, for instance, dodge a city at rush hour.
I’ve seen plenty of CDL drivers backing out of deadend streets or roads with low overpasses because the gps map was inaccurate, or lacking vital information.
I’ve met a lot of drivers that would be lost without gps. No sense of direction. They don’t know clues like mold on the north side of buildings, position of the sun or moon, let alone just knowing the route in advance.
In my pre-trip planning (into unfamiliar areas), I would write the route and street names/numbers down on a ‘cheat-sheet’, and have it clipped to the dash. The CB is also a big help in strange areas, where local truckers can give advice.
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