Sometimes it helps to actually look out the windshield
MIDDLETON, Mass. - A Massachusetts DoorDash driver recently took the road less traveled when their GPS led them on an unexpected delivery route straight into a swamp.
I've lost track of the number of people coming to my farm who #1 can't read road signs, and #2 believe their GPS. The latest one was told by his GPS to turn around and go back the way he had come when he was less than a mile from the farm. Others ended up seven miles west and a mile south of here. I ask if the have Google Earth and when they tell me yes, I tell them to plug in the address and they'll see the farm and how to get here. To date, none of them have followed that advice and I usually end up in the pickup sitting at the end of the long lane with my cell phone directing them here.
My first thought when reading or hearing about children of the magenta line used to be that they're idiots.
Then in 2009, an entire family, aunts and uncles and grandparents all perished not far from where I was then. Fifteen tourists from Germany drove their rented van off the asphalt onto a 4x4 trail then into deep sand. They were trying to find the bridge across the Grand Canyon as depicted on the van's GPS.
With the van stuck in sand, dad and the oldest boy set out on foot to get back to the asphalt. The dad made it about two miles. The boy was found severely dehydrated. He lived long enough to tell the people who found him about the van and teying to find the bridge.
The dessicating low humidity finished them off. Their trust in the GPS led them to their final resting place.
I remember reading about a pilot who errantly typed in the identifier for an airport in Canada. He intended to go to an airport with a similar ident but in the states. He sat dumb and happy as the auto pilot slaved to the GPS flew him hundreds of miles off course directly towards Canada. His first indication of trouble is when the engine coughed while running out of fuel. At least he survived.
As electronics become smarter, people become dumber. That is an actual subject in several studies. It was a significant factor in the crash of the Air France airliner out from Rio de Janero.
We carry very detailed maps of Montana (and Wyoming) in our cars, books 30-50 pages thick. One thing most people never discover is that your phone GPS relies on cell service. That is, the GPS may use the satellite signal to guide you but, without cell service when starting out, you can't even put in where you want to go. My most common final line when leaving the office for a trip is, "We won't have cell service most of the time so you can't call me." Those no service spots are often pretty nice places to be but GPS may have a hard time getting you there. A yellow GPS dot on a green field that hasn't shown a road in 60 minutes can be disconcerting without a map back-up.
I've lost track of the number of people coming to my farm who #1 can't read road signs, and #2 believe their GPS. The latest one was told by his GPS to turn around and go back the way he had come when he was less than a mile from the farm. Others ended up seven miles west and a mile south of here. I ask if the have Google Earth and when they tell me yes, I tell them to plug in the address and they'll see the farm and how to get here. To date, none of them have followed that advice and I usually end up in the pickup sitting at the end of the long lane with my cell phone directing them here.
ReplyDeleteOh yea, evidence that will disappear faster than you can say donuts
ReplyDeleteJD
I recognize that section of I 95, it's the exit into DC.
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a bit left out of this story
ReplyDeleteMy first thought when reading or hearing about children of the magenta line used to be that they're idiots.
ReplyDeleteThen in 2009, an entire family, aunts and uncles and grandparents all perished not far from where I was then. Fifteen tourists from Germany drove their rented van off the asphalt onto a 4x4 trail then into deep sand. They were trying to find the bridge across the Grand Canyon as depicted on the van's GPS.
With the van stuck in sand, dad and the oldest boy set out on foot to get back to the asphalt. The dad made it about two miles. The boy was found severely dehydrated. He lived long enough to tell the people who found him about the van and teying to find the bridge.
The dessicating low humidity finished them off. Their trust in the GPS led them to their final resting place.
I remember reading about a pilot who errantly typed in the identifier for an airport in Canada. He intended to go to an airport with a similar ident but in the states.
ReplyDeleteHe sat dumb and happy as the auto pilot slaved to the GPS flew him hundreds of miles off course directly towards Canada. His first indication of trouble is when the engine coughed while running out of fuel. At least he survived.
As electronics become smarter, people become dumber. That is an actual subject in several studies. It was a significant factor in the crash of the Air France airliner out from Rio de Janero.
We carry very detailed maps of Montana (and Wyoming) in our cars, books 30-50 pages thick. One thing most people never discover is that your phone GPS relies on cell service. That is, the GPS may use the satellite signal to guide you but, without cell service when starting out, you can't even put in where you want to go. My most common final line when leaving the office for a trip is, "We won't have cell service most of the time so you can't call me." Those no service spots are often pretty nice places to be but GPS may have a hard time getting you there. A yellow GPS dot on a green field that hasn't shown a road in 60 minutes can be disconcerting without a map back-up.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing your map books are DeLorme atlases? I've used those for years and years.
DeleteGotta love a road map that shows dirt roads.