Last year I read an article about a group of families traveling together in multiple vehicles, that had become lost deep in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Area. There was confusion about the proper route to return to the highway (it was after dark), so they defaulted to the GPS receiver to guide them out, which in turn led them further into the desert, and ultimately stranded them there, near a drop off, over a dried up river channel. Fortunately, they were rescued the next day.
Am I cynical about these stories? Yes, I am. You can change the state, situation, landscape, age and abilities of the participants, but this story is becoming way too familiar on the evening news.
I’m sure that up until they tried to use it to escape the desert that night, the person with the GPS who was guiding this whole debacle was able to navigate safely, as long as it was guiding them to a new Starbuck’s in a different town, or the Wal-Mart Superstore in the next state over, or maybe all the way out to (gasp..) Costco.
We do it to ourselves, and you know what? I’ll bet that every time that little GPS on his/her dash starts up, there’s a screen with a disclaimer that says something like, “This device is not a guarantee of safe travel, and if you are naïve, ignorant or presumptive enough to believe that a multi-billion dollar satellite constellation run by agencies of the Federal Government (U.S. Air Force and NASA) wallowing in bureaucracy, that is interfacing with a piece of hundred-dollar technology perched on your dashboard that depends on YOU for map updates and correct settings can possibly get you from one side of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to the other safely in the dark, you deserve what you get..”, or something like that..
A week or so ago I was on my way home to Elizabeth City, N.C., from the Chesapeake, VA area. As I sat at an intersection waiting on the red light, I reached up and turned on the TomTom perched on the dashboard of the Odyssey. I know how far, and which way to go, but I like to see how long TomTom thinks it’s going to take me to get home. (He’s usually off, at the outset, anyway..)
So the GPS receiver starts up, there’s a splash screen with the picture of the pretty satellites in the heavens, then the disclaimer (mentioned before) and the reminder of who owns the GPS and where he lives.
Then it said to turn right, merge onto Highway 64 North, arrival at my destination will be in 4 hours, and a few minutes.
If you read the last few paragraphs and have an understanding of our east coast geography, you’ll see that TomTom was wrong. Big wrong.
In 3.5 nanoseconds I’m fairly certain I know what has gone awry, and as the light turns green I look both ways and casually turn into the intersection, cross the overpass and get in the lane to merge onto 64 South, heading south towards N. Carolina and home. And I know it will take just over an hour because the drawbridge that crosses a waterway further south WILL be up when I get that far, and its about 4:00 p.m., and that means traffic. Meanwhile, my TomTom is trying to re-route me back into the northbound lane, and if I had the volume turned up, it would be giving me frantic verbal directions as well.
So what happened? I have a son who is nearing teenager status, his name is Liam and he has become enamored with the thought of driving. He will sit in my wife’s Honda Odyssey van and touch driving things. And he discovered the GPS receiver-navigation device-thingy, and began touching it. (And what is worse, my wife allows this abhorrent touching of the navigation device-thingy.) I am almost certain that one day while touching driving things, he turned the GPS receiver on, and in the process of navigating through all the settings and choices, he accidentally designated Richmond, Virginia as ‘HOME’, saved that change and put the device back in the glove compartment, where I found it the next day before driving to Virginia. (It was still powered up, wasn’t receiving any satellites, and I’m certain it was very confused and frustrated that whole night, sitting in the dark, lost and alone.)
Did I let this affect my navigation home? Of course not. I have driven this route numerous times, I know where to turn, where the exits are, etc. But, had this been the first time through that area, and the destination was unknown, I may have headed off towards the north that afternoon. And in all honesty, I have trusted TomTom blindly, in situations where I didn’t know exactly where I was, but I still pushed the HOME button and hoped for the best. But what I’ll never do is let my navigation-device-thingy take me out of my comfort level as far as where I’m travelling through.
So what do I know? Maps. Paper maps. I know paper maps, and I trust them. They sometimes confuse me, so I try to pay closer attention when I need to use them.
And I have nothing against using technology to get from point A to point B. When planning a trip I’ll use Google Maps to plan a route, then scrutinize the route and make any changes I want, and then use Street View where it’s available to look at landmarks at the intersections of the route to see what landmarks I’m looking for at those route changes.
What else do I know? Generally, I have an idea of direction of the cardinal compass points. Which way is north, south, etc. And with paper maps, if I’m looking for the quickest or shortest route, I figure them out, maybe write some notes concerning highway numbers, intersections or turning points, and then press on. When I was learning to fly (VFR), my instructor, Jay Seffern taught me to fly with my left hand, and keep my index finger on my right hand on the aeronautical chart and move it when I would find visible landmarks, to keep track of my location.
But I also understand that people want ‘easy’. We want maximum return on our minimal investment of time we’re willing to take learning how to use this device. And on the surface, GPS receivers are ‘easy’, compared to maps. The learning curve, or perceived learning curve isn’t so steep. We turn it on, find the input keyboard, input a destination, the receiver triangulates its position using information transmitted from the GPS satellite constellation, then it looks at its map data, (no matter how old) and more importantly the receiver settings, and then gives you a route. But it has limitations, and we need to know that we are responsible for knowing these limitations and compensating for what is left out.
Have we updated our maps recently to compensate for new road construction? Do we understand the difference between the ‘fastest’ and the ‘shortest’ route and the effect each choice has on our trip? Have I chosen major highways as preferred travel routes, or did I ask for smaller highways or toll roads? Have I even looked at the settings of my GPS, or more importantly, have I read the owner’s manual?
Your largest responsibility when using these devices is having the good judgment to recognize when your trek is going awry, and knowing when intelligent intervention is needed to arrive safely at your destination.
Now at this point, there might be a conversation about the willingness to turn around or to ask directions when it’s obvious our navigation is a bit off, but I’ll let my wife talk about that, I’m not too good at either of these points..
Rick
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