Gee, why not rely on a GPS???

[pwd72s]

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) – Travelers in the western U.S. should not rely solely on technology such as GPS for navigation, authorities said, after a Canadian couple were lost in the Nevada wilderness for 48 days.

Albert Chretien, 59, and his wife Rita Chretien, 56, sought a shorter route between Boise, Idaho and Jackpot, Nevada during a road trip from British Columbia to Las Vegas.

Rita Chretien drank water from a stream and rationed meager supplies until hunters found her on Friday. Albert Chretien has been missing since March 22, when he went to seek help.

The Chretians mapped the route on their hand-held GPS, an electronic device tied to global satellites and commonly used for navigation.

Law enforcement and search and rescue officials said that too many travelers are letting technology lull them into a false sense of security.

"There are times when you need to put the GPS down and look out the window," said Howard Paul, veteran search and rescue official with the Colorado Search and Rescue Board, the volunteer organization that coordinates that state's missions.

Sheriff's offices in remote, high-elevation parts of Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming report the past two years have brought a rise in the number of GPS-guided travelers driving off marked and paved highways and into trouble.

The spike has prompted Death Valley National Park in California to caution on its web site that "GPS navigation to sites to remote locations like Death Valley are notoriously unreliable."

When two roads diverge in Western lands, take the one more traveled, authorities said.

"You've got people driving into the middle of a field because a machine showed a route that was shorter and quicker -- which it ultimately is not," said Rob DeBree, undersheriff in Albany County in southeastern Wyoming.

Searching for travelers who veer off an interstate highway in a county the size of Connecticut can be costly, time-consuming and dangerous for rescuers, he said.

Jerry Colson, sheriff of neighboring Carbon County, issued a broad appeal this winter to stay on paved roadways after several motorists consulted GPS devices for shortcuts and plowed into snowdrifts on roads to nowhere.

Authorities said such incidents show there is no substitute for common sense.

"Your machine may tell you the quickest route but it might not take into account there are impassable canyons between you and your destination," said Daryl Crandall, sheriff of Owyhee County in southwest Idaho.

Kevin McKinney, detective sergeant with the sheriff's office in Elko County, Nevada that is heading up the search for Albert Chretien, said motorists risk hardships on the patchwork of primitive roads in the wilds of northern Nevada where technology is ineffective.

"This country is as rugged and as unforgiving as you can get," he said.

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Greg McCune)

[VINMAN]

" I now have an electronic device to help me with everything. I tossed my common sense out in monday nights trash..."

[LWJ]

There was a similar situation a year or two ago when some folks got a GPS for Christmas and used it driving home. They didn't show up. After a few days, a relative (who got the same GPS as a gift) got the idea of plugging in the route and seeing where it took him.

They were found right on the route.

Not the best idea to check common sense at the door.

Larry

[grendiers]

When jeeping in our NM forests, I like to have both a national forest map, and a GPS. Well, maybe the former for sure, but it's nice to 'see' your progress. The hand-held Garmin with both topo and citymaps, won't have all of the forest service roads in it's software.

[johnsjmc]

I got lost in downtown New York City using a GPS . It kept telling me to turn right then right then right then left left left. I was going around in circles . We passed ground zero twice. Would have been sight seeing but I was towing a 993 and it was getting dark. We had picked it up in Brooklyn and were heading for Niagara falls. It was getting very tense when a cop stopped us and gave us actual directions.He told us GPS doesn,t work here. (Maybe high buildings or ?? We didn,t carry a map book anymore but do now just in case.

[speedracing944]

Originally Posted by johnsjmc

I got lost in downtown New York City using a GPS . It kept telling me to turn right then right then right then left left left. I was going around in circles . We passed ground zero twice. Would have been sight seeing but I was towing a 993 and it was getting dark. We had picked it up in Brooklyn and were heading for Niagara falls. It was getting very tense when a cop stopped us and gave us actual directions.He told us GPS doesn,t work here. (Maybe high buildings or ?? We didn,t carry a map book anymore but do now just in case.

I was with my family grabbing cupcakes from a bakery in a Manhattan alley. The GPS was just spinning in a circle as the buildings blocked view of the satellites. I had to drive until I got to a clearing.

[GH85Carrera]

My gps wanted me to drive my 911 up a very steep dirt road to get on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I was smart enough to turn around and look for another way. The gps kept wanting me to go back up that road. I saw a road sign and followed that.

[patssle]

I've done 3 5k-10k mile road trips in the past 3 years. I don't use a GPS. It's a pain in the ass to try and look ahead on a trip on a tiny little screen.

These things are awesome, I own about 10 of them now: http://media.rei.com/media/hh/3a610376-207c-44b4-8c3a-c2b318e01dc9.jpg

[ckissick]

I use a new and innovative technology that has proven to be fool-proof in every way. It's light-weight, and folds into a small configuration for easy storage. Moreover, it uses no batteries or any electricity at all. Instead, its operation relies solely on electromagnetic radiation in the visible light spectrum, a readily available, totally free substance of infinite supply. At night, a simple flashlight aids in its use. It can be used both in-car, and in the house. And it's easy to spell and pronounce; it's spelled M-A-P, and it rhymes with nap.

The only problem is, for operation, it requires an IQ above 50. Therefore, it has limited commercial viability in the U.S. marketplace.

[AFC-911]

I like using Google Maps. I just print out the directions and off I go. I don't even use maps.

I have considered having a GPS just in case.

[Neilk]

I like using Google Maps. I just print out the directions and off I go. I don't even use maps.



I have considered having a GPS just in case.

I used to like Google Maps, but I have been getting some really odd directions from them in the past year.

[johnsjmc]

You can,t even trust the marine units completely. I was offshore on lake Erie several years ago and my GPS brought us towards land (we were expecting a small harbour )Nothing there. We had come from the west so we went east along the shore . About 15 mi. later we saw the light of the harbour

[Rick Lee]

I treat my GPS like I do speed limits - suggestions.

[pwd72s]

The sad tale of the San Francisco couple who took a gravel road (Black bear road?) "shortcut" from I-5 to the Oregon coast in winter. Yep, following the GPS.

Got stuck in the snow.

After days, hubby "went for help"...died. Wife and children finally found by a private chopper pilot who followed a hunch. This was two, maybe 3 years ago?
It made local & national news.

IF hiking or driving in the back country...map and compass know-how could save your life when/if the electronics fail.

For road trips? I still rely on Rand-McNally...The only GPS unit here reads lattitude, longitude only...an early model to be used in addition to map & compass.

[Z-man]

I use my GPS unit during my daily drive to work. No, not becuase I get lost, but because of the traffic reporting function it now has.

However, when out of town and on a trip, I will always have a backup plan, (Rand McNally, or Mapquest) and I do always second guess where the GPS is telling me to go. If it doesn't seem to make sense, I won't follow it.

-Z-man.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by patssle

I've done 3 5k-10k mile road trips in the past 3 years. I don't use a GPS. It's a pain in the ass to try and look ahead on a trip on a tiny little screen.

These things are awesome, I own about 10 of them now: http://media.rei.com/media/hh/3a610376-207c-44b4-8c3a-c2b318e01dc9.jpg

Pat, I finally clicked on your signature video...great job! Good song selection too.

[rattlsnak]

never have seen the point of a seperate GPS unit. either use map quest before you leave or look at the 'maps' app on your phone and avoid the whole DORK look of a GPS hanging from the dash.

[Neilk]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Pat, I finally clicked on your signature video...great job! Good song selection too.

+1. Great video

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

The sad tale of the San Francisco couple who took a gravel road (Black bear road?) "shortcut" from I-5 to the Oregon coast in winter. Yep, following the GPS.

Got stuck in the snow.

After days, hubby "went for help"...died. Wife and children finally found by a private chopper pilot who followed a hunch. This was two, maybe 3 years ago?
It made local & national news.

IF hiking or driving in the back country...map and compass know-how could save your life when/if the electronics fail.

For road trips? I still rely on Rand-McNally...The only GPS unit here reads lattitude, longitude only...an early model to be used in addition to map & compass.

[AFC-911]

^ Yeah, I saw that on Nightline. It was definitely tragic, but I think they made a series of bad judgement calls.

And for a family that always did spontaneous things like this, you would have thought they'd be more prepared.