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Don't BlindlyTrust Your GPS Device
I don't have a GPS device. For me, part of the fun of road trips is getting lost; I enjoy navigating unknown cities and long, remote stretches of highways with my trusty Rand McNally. That's not to say I wouldn't use a GPS device in conjunction with a paper map -- but I wouldn't rely solely on the satellite navigation system. Case in point: Back in March, the driver of a £96,000 Mercedes relied on her GPS system a little too much and ended up following its directions right into a river."The Mercedes SL500 was swept 600 yards downstream, bouncing from one bank of the River Sense to the other as the woman, in her late 20s and from London, frantically tried to escape," described the Daily Mail. "She was finally rescued by villager Alice Clark when the car ran aground."
This seems to be happening more and more often. A driver in Italy recently trusted their GPS device's directions when it advised pulling off the road and onto a train track. Here's a rather boring video of said car being pushed off of the tracks:
And even when you're not blindly following incorrect, computer-generated directions, studies have shown that "using GPS while behind the wheel is actually more distracting and less safe than unfolding a paper map and using it to find your way," reads our sister site Engadget. Thirteen percent of drivers, according to the survey, relied exclusively on their GPS for directions, "rendering them completely oblivious to the world around them." With numbers that high, I'm surprised we don't have more people driving into rivers and onto railroad tracks.
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Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
eli Jul 5th 2007 3:10AM
only someone who drives into a river, or winds up in front of a train on the tracks is a person dumb enough to trust their gps completely as in any piece of technology out of there. a little bit of common sense must be used. but i dont know about the auther but i really think the comment in the beggining of the article about enjoying getting getting lost was just a bunch of bs it just sounded like the right thing to write for the article. i travel for a living and on the road, screw stopping and have to look at maps constantly i love my gps but i do have to look at the road so i dont have to wind up in the river like i guess some idiots have, i figured paris would have been the first. this was a real shallow article written by someone who could have cared less about any of it as it was all done in poor taste. please keep driving along and go get lost some more.
YGH Jul 5th 2007 3:48AM
We have a Honda Odyssey van with GPS and it has been a life-saver on more than one occasion. Honda's GPS system is rated very good even though it's CD based and needs updating every so often. It has a feature called "Home" which I set to our home address when we first got the van. When I drove my son & family to the airport for their red eye midnight flight, I got lost coming out of the airport and ended up in a very dangerous part of town. Since the van was new and I wasn't used to haveing GPS, I had forgotten about hitting the "home" button on the GPS before I left the airport. As soon as I remembered to use the GPS, I hit "Home" and the GPS guided me back onto the freeway and I was safely headed back home. We now use our GPS all the time and are thinking of getting a portable Garmin Nuvi 670 for our older cars & for when we travel to Europe since it has preloaded maps for the US & Europe.
Over Saturated Jul 5th 2007 4:12AM
Used our magellan for years and have been saved many times by landing on target. Wouldn't want to do without it ever again!
james bow Jul 5th 2007 7:52AM
I use my GPS all the time and it saves an incredible anmount of time I would otherwise sit on the side of a road reading a map. You do not have to watch all GPS screens. Mine is a Garmin 340 which gives all directions and commands verbally, as well as on a screen. SO I can listen and drive, never looking at the source. Sort of like having your wife in the front seat.
lol
james bow Jul 5th 2007 7:55AM
I use my GPS all the time and it saves an incredible anmount of time I would otherwise sit on the side of a road reading a map. You do not have to watch all GPS screens. Mine is a Garmin 340 which gives all directions and commands verbally, as well as on a screen. SO I can listen and drive, never looking at the source. Sort of like having your wife in the front seat.
lol
Bear Jul 5th 2007 4:46AM
I'm one of those people who are lost as soon as I'm out of my driveway. I recently purchased a Garmin C330. LOVE IT!! But I can also understand how it can be a distraction. You have to kind of ignore the fact that it is there until it "speaks" to you. DON'T play with it while you're driving. IF you must adjust it, then pull off into a rest area or somewhere safe off to the side of the road first. You have to use Common Sence, just like with most anything else, though I understand that, that is sometimes in short supply.
steve Jul 5th 2007 5:40AM
Well, as they always say.....JUst when ya thought you've made something "Idiot Proof"....Along come better idiots.
LeeLeeBird7 Jul 5th 2007 6:18AM
I recently drove alone for a vacation on an island a little beyond Atlantic City. My husband bought the Garmin before I left so he wouldn't have to worry about me (I have NO sense of direction). It was invaluable!
Dale Oct 17th 2007 5:13AM
I use the Garmin c330 GPS and it is great.
My job requires me to go to different cities and about 12 locations a day in thos cities.
I would never go back to just paper maps!
It has been a life saver.
STAY OUT OF THE RIVERS AND OFF THE RAILROAD TRACKS.
DUH.......
DFLCruiser Dec 5th 2007 2:17PM
There are nerds in everything incl.myself but with GPS, some are simply better off as classified "Blinds" it is a wonder how they obtained their DL???
A GPS is just another assistance in the car, if logic is sold out, common sense has no value, then driving under such circumstance should render a license holder for a refresher "driving lesson course" esp. after they claim being misguided by faults from a GPS unit.
-Cruiser >> sometimes drives with no hands on the steering, cruising at speeds above 110kph under cruise control, munching a sandwich in one hand, while the milkshake is in the other, resetting the climate control and also resetting the seating heats too and selecting the Mp3 music files on the GPS as well....a host of multitasking while still safely abiding caution and consideration to other motorists during take-overs with prompt signaling and with a relax attitude all the time... as for common sense? Thats running 100% in the back office brain ;)