Who uses maps anymore?

[Lamplighter]

Such an experience gives meaning to "Caveat Emptor"

[xoxoxoBruce]

For most people it's an inconvenience. But the news has way too many stories of people who follow their GPS instructions without thinking, ending up in lakes, rivers, subway tunnels, or on railroad tracks.

[Beest]

I heard an interview with one of the Park Rangers from Death Valley, they rescue 6 or so people in acute ditsress each year, who have been guided up old mining trails that are marked on the map, and run out of gas.
Deaths are not uncommon either.

[Carruthers]

Originally Posted by Beest

On our recent vacation in rural western Michigan, we had one incident where the GPS tried to guide us to our campsite down a tiny track you could maybe have got a Jeep down.

There were several instances where we would come to a four way junction on the GPS and there would be only 3 or 2 visible roads, the other direction was just a field.

Once we stopped trusting it entirely and used map in parallel it was OK

Unfortunately, many people seem to surrender their powers of independent thought and accept what the electronic gizmo tells them to do, to the point of ignoring the evidence of their own eyes.

Locally there is a narrow lane with a couple of houses and a farm entrance. This lane peters out into a rough track and connects the first farm with another on the same estate.

On a number of occasions cars have ventured up there because the satnav told their drivers to do so, despite it being obvious to those with eyes to see, that it is totally unsuited to anything but tractors and agricultural 4 x 4 vehicles.

A few weeks ago I was out with my canine guest at the point where the track becomes unsuitable for cars, when I saw a Saab approaching.

The driver stopped and asked me if he was heading in the right direction for the other farm, but I gently advised him to take the alternative route via the main road if he didn't want to lose his sump.

Quite why this track is shown in satnav systems isn't clear, but no doubt somebody will try again very soon.

The surface is chalk and perilous in wet weather which tends to offer a character forming driving experience.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Brit ~ I say chap, this lane is quite unsuitable for your Saab, Likely to lose your sump, you see. It would be wiser to take the paved way round.

American ~ What are you a fucking moron? Get the fuck outta here, asshole!

[Happy Monkey]

The thing about GPSs is that if it does give you a bad route, just skip the turn and keep going until it stops telling you to make a U-turn.

[Carruthers]

Phones blamed as mountain alerts hit peak: Relying on navigation apps is leading to more people getting lost, rescue workers say

The mountain rescue team covering Britain's highest peak has blamed record call-outs on the fact walkers rely on smartphones instead of learning to read a map.

Lochaber Mountain Rescue in Scotland, whose area includes 4,409ft Ben Nevis, is normally called out between 70 and 100 times a year. But by yesterday morning it had dealt with 103 alerts in 2015.

Team leader John Stevenson said that as well as the usual issues of bad weather and 'slips and trips', smartphones were causing navigation problems.

He said: 'Navigation has been a big issue this year. People should know how to use a map and compass and not be relying on mobile phones.

'Another big problem has been people not leaving information about where in the hills they are going. We are having to search big areas because of that.'

Earlier this year, the Mountaineering Council of Scotland asked people not to rely on smartphones and GPS devices as navigation tools in the hills.

It urged hill walkers not already versed in the use of a map and compass to learn the skill.

The council's warning was issued ahead of the busy summer walking season.

Safety adviser, Heather Morning, said: 'Aside from the limitations of battery life, reception and limits on using touch screens with gloves on, the issue lies with people, and their ability – or lack of ability – in basic navigation skills.

'A GPS, smartphone or navigation app is unable to read important subtleties, such as a sensible route choice.

'Unless you have already used your navigational abilities to programme in an exact route, it won't direct you away from cliffs or show you the best place to cross a river – or offer an alternative if a bridge is down or the river is in flood.'

Daily Mail

[xoxoxoBruce]

That's easy to believe considering so many people get lost on clearly marked, safe to traverse, paved streets.

[Carruthers]

There's no guarantee that this chap would have fared any better if he'd used a map, but a certain scepticism towards his satnav instructions might have helped.

'Sat-nav' jams 50ft lorry in Hertfordshire village



A 50ft (15m) lorry became wedged in a small village street after being directed there by a sat-nav, its driver said.

The village was blocked for several hours after the vehicle became stuck in Walkern High Street, Hertfordshire, on Tuesday afternoon.

Police tweeted: "Question, what is 50 feet long and unlikely to fit through the narrow streets of Walkern#satnavfail."

The lorry was removed later.

A spokesman from Manea-based haulage company D&R Hankins said the driver had been to a farm in Walkern and was on his way back to its Cambridgeshire base.

The driver's sat nav had taken him through the narrow village streets, he confirmed.

There was "minimal damage" to the lorry and a recovery vehicle was sent to "manoeuvre" it out of its predicament, he added.

I realise that it's easy to point fingers from the comfort of my chair, but take a look at the blue sign on the pub wall.



There will have been a corresponding sign at the other end of the lane but he let the satnav take precedence over what he could see for himself.
I post this not to ridicule the poor chap, but out of puzzlement as to why he let it happen.

BBC

Daily Mail There's a good selection of photos, even if the text is somewhat over excited.

Street View

[Sundae]

I love the idea that the satnav took the lorry (with the presumably trapped driver) there. He was obviously just along for the ride.

[Griff]

Might want to change that data set before the super safe self driving trucks hit the road.

[Carruthers]

Apologies. Made a mess of the Street View link in post #54.

Street View.

Working now!

[xoxoxoBruce]

Sat/Nav is a great help, but like everything else to come along, it's not a fix for stupid.
Sometimes it's little confusing, so I'll just sit in the middle of the fucking intersection while I figure it out.

[bbro]

One year, my mom came down with her Garmin to use so we could go to the beach. I didn't print out instructions and there was no smart phone. The Garmin was never charged so we couldn't use it. I had instructions, but I got lost before we even got out of my county. We kept driving hoping to hit a highway we needed. Nope. We stopped and got a paper map and used it to get us where we needed to be. I think it's a useful skill because technology can, and does, fail.

[monster]

I used my city map at least twice this weekend to navigate a tricky neighborhood and a route from A to B through a tricky neighborhood/riverside area that is avoided by electronic route planners but cuts the time between A and B at least in half and has pretty scenery to boot.