Another Cautionary Tale Of GPS Dependence

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

In addition to the recent tales (and sitcom gags) of GPS units leading hapless drivers into bodies of water, we have a new twist on the theme: GPS units leading hapless drivers astray in Death Valley. NPR reports

After a long day, [Donna] Cooper and her family asked “Nell,” the GPS, for the shortest route back to their home.

“Please proceed to the highlighted route,” Nell said.

But what came next did not compute. The GPS told them to go 550 feet, then turn right, Cooper says.

“Well, at 550 feet it was like a little path, and then it was like, go a quarter of a mile and turn left. There was nothing there. She had me running in circles for hours and hours and hours,” she says.

A park ranger explains that this happens “a couple times a year now,” including one incident two years ago in which a mother and her son were lost on an abandoned mining road for five days and the boy died. Rangers are now working with GPS firms to update their data on small and closed-down roads, but say no amount of work will ever replace common sense when it comes to navigating desert roads. Speaking of which, what happened to Cooper’s family?

According to NPR:

A search and rescue helicopter found Cooper’s family after three days of being lost. Everyone survived, except Nell, the GPS. But that’s not what Cooper was calling her by then.

“Called her a few names,” she says. “A couple four-letter words.”

And yet, Cooper has not lost faith. She has a new GPS now, named Rosie.

Despite identifying a lack of common sense as the basic problem, NPR never asks Ms. Cooper to reflect on her experience, and how it has made her relationship with “Rosie” different than her relationship with “Nell.” Could she imagine this happening to her again, or does she take a more personal interest in navigating (and possibly, by extension, driving) now? After all, dependence on electronic gizmos is becoming an increasingly common cause of inattentive driving, which can kill you in a crash as well as strand you in the desert. And as this Mercedes commercial points out, automakers have every interest in cultivating your dependence on all kinds of systems that ultimately encourage inattentive driving.


Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

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  • Stuki Stuki on Jul 27, 2011

    I once talked to a guy who claimed he could create traffic jams around the Stanford Campus at will. Given that the military uses GPS transmissions, I always thought he was full of it, but who knows....

    • Aristurtle Aristurtle on Jul 27, 2011

      GPS only gives you your present location and velocity (and the military has access to more precise data than a consumer GPS can use). The maps, traffic information, and other crap that you get with your navigation app and/or gadget are a separate thing provided by the device maker or app company.

  • Thrashette Thrashette on Jul 27, 2011

    I really don't understand why GPS are so frowned upon and considered dangerous. Yes, I'm a girl, yes, I'm 18, and yes, I use a GPS. However, I always take a look at my atlas (get a new one every year) before I leave the house to make sure the GPS is taking me on the proper and preferred route. If not, I add destinations to force it to follow my route. I don't use the sound, instead paying attention to how many miles I have until my turn, and then looking for the road when I get close. I personally find this method to be safer, more efficient, and less distracting than my parents' methods of continually checking the map while driving, pulling over to reconcile any mistakes, and so on. If the driver pays attention to where they are in relation to their destination, and doesn't just drive around staring at the little picture of a car, GPS are perfectly safe and useful devices.

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