GPS v Common Sense

My old 350 tried leading me down some back roads on the Indian reservation at the Grand Canyon. When I noted the condition of the roads (actually no more than little trails), I stuck to the main road and had no problems. I'm not looking for out-of-the-way shortcuts. I just want to get there. These people needed to use their noggins for something besides growing hair.

shows some people don't think before they move. You never travel back roads in the wihter time unless you know where and what your doing. not the gps's fau;t.

I'm just sayin'

Minus the snow, that is..

Many many moons ago on a vacation trip with my wife, I had my GPS45 (non-map based GPS) along. I had our destination stored in the GPS.

She asked me which way to go. I pointed off to the right, across flat country towards a range of hills. "46 miles that way."

She decided to stick to the roads. I agree, it was a good decision (and a good way to a long marriage).

We all know that common sense just isn't -- at some level, the users of the gadgets have to be smarter than the gadgets they're using.

I've heard many horror stories of people driving or towing an RV that blindly followed a GPS. We always double check hard copy maps to make sure we don't end up on roads not suited for our rig.

I must admit that I have found myself to become a "GPS-Zombie" on occasion while blindly following directions.

Reminds me of the stories told of people setting "cruise-control" and going into the back of the RV to make a sandwich.

I would think that if they had set the avoidance for Unpaved Roads, it would have kept them away. Also, I believe they had shortest route, not quickest.

Three yards of black fabric enshroud my computer terminal. I am mourning the passing of an old friend by the name of Common Sense.

His obituary reads as follows:

Common Sense, aka C.S., lived a long life, but died from heart failure at the brink of the millennium. No one really knows how old he was, his birth records were long ago entangled in miles and miles of bureaucratic red tape.
Known affectionately to close friends as Horse Sense and Sound Thinking, he selflessly devoted himself to a life of service in homes, schools, hospitals and offices, helping folks get jobs done without a lot of fanfare, whooping and hollering. Rules and regulations and petty, frivolous lawsuits held no power over C.S.

A most reliable sage, he was credited with cultivating the ability to know when to come in out of the rain, the discovery that the early bird gets the worm and how to take the bitter with the sweet. C.S. also developed sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn), reliable parenting strategies (the adult is in charge, not the kid) and prudent dietary plans (offset eggs and bacon with a little fiber and orange juice).

A veteran of the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, the Technological Revolution and the Smoking Crusades, C.S. survived sundry cultural and educational trends including disco, the men's movement, body piercing, whole language and new math.

C.S.'s health began declining in the late 1960s when he became infected with the If-It-Feels-Good, Do-It virus. In the following decades his waning strength proved no match for the ravages of overbearing federal and state rules and regulations and an oppressive tax code. C.S. was sapped of strength and the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, criminals received better treatment than victims and judges stuck their noses in everything from Boy Scouts to professional baseball and golf. His deterioration accelerated as schools implemented zero-tolerance policies. Reports of 6-year-old boys charged with sexual harassment for kissing classmates, a teen suspended for taking a swig of Scope mouthwash after lunch, girls suspended for possessing Midol and an honor student expelled for having a table knife in her school lunch were more than his heart could endure.

As the end neared, doctors say C.S. drifted in and out of logic but was kept informed of developments regarding regulations on low-flow toilets and mandatory air bags. Finally, upon hearing about a government plan to ban inhalers from 14 million asthmatics due to a trace of a pollutant that may be harmful to the environment, C.S. breathed his last. Services will be at Whispering Pines Cemetery. C.S. was preceded in death by his wife, Discretion; one daughter, Responsibility; and one son, Reason. He is survived by two step-brothers, Half-Wit and Dim-Wit.

Memorial Contributions may be sent to the Institute for Rational Thought.

Farewell, Common Sense. May you rest in peace.

Link to the page the above came from:
http://infohost.nmt.edu/~armiller/commonsen.htm

Very true words. Thank you for posting it for us to read Happ New Year,and may we see CS come back to life.

It also doesn't show common sense to open up the GPS box you got for Christmas, plug it into your vehicle and go off on a road trip across the Cascade mountains in winter time. One should probably work with the unit a bit first before relying on it the way the folks in Oregon did over the past couple of weeks. Another suggestion is to keep looking at the "big picture" when using the devices. Just looking at a narrow view will not show you that you may be getting in way over your head while traveling on some of the roads the device routes you on. If you don't look far enough ahead, you may not see that the Forest Service road that you were routed on from the device comes to a dead-end in the wilds of Eastern Oregon.

I sometimes follow the obviously flawed directions I get from my Nuvi. There's an occasional pleasant surprise along the way. It could be a great view from the top of a hill, a sign announcing a small twon festival that sounds fun or just one of those silly fiberglass statues to get you to notice a restaurant.

I still wouldn't go down that road with that much snow on the ground. There's a big difference between adventurous and stupid.

We really should learn to question "authority" from time to time.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100101/D9CUTBK81.html

pmhennessey, those are the three Oregon stories I was referring to in my post. I really hope they (and all of us) learned something from their big "adventures". Another note, with something like OnStar phone communication in your vehicle, you are better able to get mobile phone connections than with just the hand-held cell phones. The OnStar units are more powerful and can pick up better roaming signals than just the hand-helds. When you get connected, you can talk live to an OnStar advisor that can help in emergencies and they can track you with GPS as well so that they can find out where you are maybe better than just a hand-held cell phone fix. No, I do not work for GM but find OnStar of value and have had it for years in my cars.

Common sense tells me that it is good to use a good map, GPS, and common sense when trying to go from point A to point B.

Take a different route from my parents place after the New Year. Usually it takes me about 13-14 hours. I like my normal route in that I familiar with. Because if the recent snow storms through the midwest and east coast we decided to go the other way to stay on the 4 lane main roads longer. Well we followed the GPS through an area that had not gotten completely cleared. Roads could be traveled well enough bu generally in single line in most area unless you had all wheel drive. Overall I was pleased with the route but given the circumstances and the fact that my washer nozzles were frozen it was an interesting drive.

Now the trip took 12 hours instead of the 13.5-14 hours. I learned not to take 19 through Virginia to 77 but to stay on 69? to 77 in Charleston. Had another are almost home that we had to take a detour due to an accident. Got off the highway pushed "detour" and lost a whole 9 minutes on the travel home.

Now with the road conditions if I felt the car would not make it I would have turned around and gotten back on the other highway.

Another problem, goes along with "Common Sense" is people buying these SUV's and not knowing the true capability of the vehicle. Look I have a 4WD I can go anywhere.

Video reminded me of a GPS-related incident during a training exercise in a combat unit in '95. Technology is great but you gotta know its limitations and have a back up plan, especially if your life is potentially on the line. People get overly-reliant upon technology and often fail to learn basic skills - like map reading.

a map in the glove box can be great backup

So very many stupid people in the world....

I love how they have to blame a stupid piece of equipment...that they have no Sense.

A GPS system (like all computers) is only a tool which can help to do the work, but the final decision should always be checked using common sense.

if there were signs warning that roads are closed or impassible in the winter. GPS know where the roads are but don't know what the signs say.

Unfortunately, Garmin's suggestion that the driver zoom out to see what the roads are like is no do-able with the current nav products.

There is NO secondary road detail whatsoever when zoomed out past a half mile - and that means that the field of view is actually less than what you can see down a level road with your naked eyes.

Bad Garmin!!

One of the things I remind friends who get a new AWD vehicle is that there is nothing different about the brakes or steering. ALL vehicles have 4-wheel brakes, so they can't stop any faster or steer any more accurately than anyone else.

Two things many people don't know about four wheel drive in winter:

4WD lets you get stuck deeper in the snow, further off the road!

4WD on ice means that all four wheels spin at the same time!