Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Couple Stranded 3 Days After GPS Leads Them Astray

Posted by samzenpus on from the volcano-explorer-package dept.

A couple got stuck in snow for three days after letting their SUV's navigation system guide them through the high desert of Eastern Oregon. The pair found themselves stranded on a remote forest road in the Winema-Fremont National Forest. After three days, atmospheric conditions changed enough for their GPS-enabled cell phone to get a weak signal, and they could call for help. "GPS almost did 'em in and GPS saved 'em," Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger said. "It will give you options to pick the shortest route. You certainly get the shortest route. But it may not be a safe route."

12 comments

  1. Congratulations by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    You are the first nominee for a 2010 Darwin Awards honorable mention for a brave attempt at removing yourself from the gene pool that unfortunately ultimately failed.

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    1. Re:Congratulations by slashqwerty · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You are the first nominee for a 2010 Darwin Awards honorable mention for a brave attempt at removing yourself from the gene pool that unfortunately ultimately failed.

      From the article:

      The couple was well-equipped for winter travel, carrying food, water and warm clothes, the sheriff said.

      These two survived because they were well prepared. That hardly makes them candidates for a Darwin Award.

      Regardless, these two were not familiar with the area. The point of a GPS navigation system is to direct you to your destination. Trusting a technology that has worked countless times in the past does not qualify a person for a Darwin Award. Also, at 65 and 67 years of age these people are far too old to have children.

  2. What a maroon by haruharaharu · · Score: 1

    I'm sure they also drive off cliffs because the GPS said so. Learn a little bit about navigation before you end up a statistic.

    --
    Reboot macht Frei.
    1. Re:What a maroon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maroon? I think you mean moron. So who's the moron?

    2. Re:What a maroon by The+Yuckinator · · Score: 1

      Time to brush up on your Bugs Bunny?

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Kh7nLplWo

  3. Better article, and liability? by MojoRilla · · Score: 1

    A better article is available here.

    But the big question is, are the GPS companies liable for this? There will no doubt be deaths due to GPS routing people on inappropriate roads. And there will no doubt be lawsuits that the GPS companies knew roads were inappropriate but didn't remove them from their database.

    1. Re:Better article, and liability? by n0tquitesane · · Score: 0

      Here's the article from local paper. I live in Klamath, and all I can say is if idiots don't carry a compass, they should stay home.

      Oh, and I hesitate to call Klamath “Eastern Oregon”

    2. Re:Better article, and liability? by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      But the big question is, are the GPS companies liable for this?

      Almost certainly not.
      Firstly - the GPS service is provided by the US military ; have fun trying to sue them without getting shot or invaded.
      Secondly, you'd have to demonstrate that the GPS signal had actually provided them with false information in some form, which led to their being in the "wrong place at the wrong time", which it almost certainly didn't.
      Thirdly, if there is fault anywhere, then it probably lays in the "shortest route" algorithms used in the mapping software modules in the GPS device, or in the mapping data itself. I'd finger the mapping data myself - it probably doesn't explicitly recognise road sections that can easily be blocked by snow.
      With the blithe confidence of near total ignorance of the field (except knowing that my GPS, unaffectionately known as "the talking deranged crack addict", has a map that includes a road less than 100m from my house, which has been blocked off from through-traffic for at least 19 years. No wonder I leave it at home, mostly) I'd suggest an algorithm like marking all road sections that go above 1000m (varies for local conditions) as having a toll operating from September to May with a fee of "up to your life". That should allow more appropriate routing decisions.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  4. option by Fotograf · · Score: 1

    or instead of some funny SUV get a land rover

    --
    God's gift to chicks
  5. My GPS Story by kurt555gs · · Score: 1

    Just watch:

    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3076190262293764710#/

    --
    * Carthago Delenda Est *
  6. I don't get it by jollyreaper · · Score: 1

    I use GPS all the time and it's great. Sometimes it can get a little screwed up with new construction and give a bad turn. No worries. Just drive through it and the unit will figure it out soon enough. Even when I'm going through a complicated interchange and get the turn wrong, the GPS will let me know. No worries, it'll tell me where I can safely make a U-turn and correct my mistake.

    All the same, I do review the route it recommends before driving it. When it's routing me through a desert in the middle of winter, my first question would be "Is this the approved route?" I'm a Florida boy and don't experience winter all that much but I would think the first rule of snow driving is "stick where the people are." Even if the whole freeway gets snowed in, at least rescue crews will be able to find you guys and get everyone out. If I don't trust the route the GPS lays out, I check it against a frickin' map and see for myself. The couple of times I've had to do that, it turns out the GPS was right and my understanding of the geography was wrong.

    If I were planning on going out in the boonies, I'd certainly be looking up the right communications equipment to carry in case of "oh, shit!" moments and that's regardless of whether or not I'm using GPS. What about simple mechanical breakdowns?

    --
    Kwisatz Haderach
    Sell the spice to CHOAM
    This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
  7. It wasn't the GPS! its the route finding software! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    May I be the first to say that the GPS system really wasn't at fault. GPS is global positioning system, meaning it knew where they were, but rather the mapping information its software was seriously flawed. Two separate systems located in one unit. I would say that the company is liable for supplying mapping that was not at all correct. Said company is lucky these were prepared individuals who had emergency supplies to handle the difficult situation, it would have been a whole OTHER matter if they weren't and one found two dead bodies and a note saying the route finding software led them astray. One still SHOULD have other means like proper maps, but the GPS itself still works as it should it gives you your longitude and latitude to a degree that most would find more than accurate.