Another FAIL by GPS

[hbelkins]

Another example of why you shouldn't always trust your GPS.

http://www.kentucky.com/2013/12/17/2993198/thanks-to-map-glitch-some-would.html

FAIL. 

[PHLBOS]

Another example of why you shouldn't always trust your GPS.

^^Amen!

[jeffandnicole]

Another example of why you shouldn't always trust your GPS.

http://www.kentucky.com/2013/12/17/2993198/thanks-to-map-glitch-some-would.html

FAIL. 

Just blame the farmer for not putting up enough Christmas Lights. 

Don't forget to charge admission!

[wxfree]

Even if we had perfect technology, it would still be important to develop mental capacity.  Even a rudimentary understanding of navigation, even just knowing how to follow road signs, would prevent this.  This story about a "map glitch" to me is a story about blind faith, a result of mental laziness.

[Zeffy]

I stopped using GPS when I couldn't find the location of my credit union in East Windsor. It took me 25 minutes to find the building, since it couldn't find the road the building was located off of. I eventually found it (it was pretty hidden, but that's beside the point), and that's when I stopped trusting my GPS.

Oh, and when it told me the best way home from Trenton was via US 1. No thanks.

[vdeane]

It didn't take long on our DC trip for my parents to figure out that I was more accurate than the GPS.  It sent us down US 1 to Mount Vernon rather than the George Washington Parkway for some reason.

[NE2]

The big gubmint GPS worked as it should and gave their precise location. The private mapping data was to blame.

[Blape]

How did Barton know the couple was Japanese?


iPhone

[sammi]

How did Barton know the couple was Japanese?

Because a lot of us probably have some idea of what other languages sound like.
And while I'm here, welcome to AARoads!

The big gubmint GPS worked as it should and gave their precise location. The private mapping data was to blame.

Yup. It's never the GPS. The GPS always works. It's the receiver (yes, technicality), and whatever shitty data was put on it.

[Alps]

Another example of why you shouldn't always trust your GPS.

http://www.kentucky.com/2013/12/17/2993198/thanks-to-map-glitch-some-would.html

FAIL. 

I want to see the tunnel, myself.

ETA: Looks like I'd clinch KY 2909 in the process!

[hbelkins]

I want to see the tunnel, myself.

ETA: Looks like I'd clinch KY 2909 in the process!

Tunnel = big square concrete culvert. Not dissimilar to what we went under on the under-construction US 460 just prior to the stop where the group photo was made, but wider because I-75 is six lanes there instead of four.

[hotdogPi]

The GPS I occasionally use doesn't even consider MA 114 or any similar non-freeways. Even though MA 114 is the fastest by far, for the route I was taking.


I was going west on MA 114, and it kept telling me to use 128. It didn't tell me to continue straight on 114 until about the starting point of this.

(At least, I seem to think it was that way.)

[andrewkbrown]

The car in the Google Streetview of the aforementioned driveway appears to himself be lost.

https://maps.google.com/?ll=38.171995,-84.534441&spn=0.000008,0.004737&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=38.17192,-84.535507&panoid=fERxZ5oTw9elGxAChQfi5Q&cbp=12,122.45,,1,12.64

[SD Mapman]

When I was in Oregon a few years ago, the GPS kept trying to route me onto unpaved Forest Service tracks instead of the one paved road. (this was after I maxed out the map corrections on the device)

Naturally, I ignored it.

The GPS I occasionally use doesn't even consider MA 114 or any similar non-freeways. Even though MA 114 is the fastest by far, for the route I was taking.

That's might be because it doesn't have the speed limits registered for those roads. Mine used to do that.

[PHLBOS]

The GPS I occasionally use doesn't even consider MA 114 or any similar non-freeways. Even though MA 114 is the fastest by far, for the route I was taking.


I was going west on MA 114, and it kept telling me to use 128. It didn't tell me to continue straight on 114 until about the starting point of this.

(At least, I seem to think it was that way.)

Two things:

1.  Your link is showing the Airport Circle (US 30/130/NJ 38 interchange) in Pennsauken, NJ.  Nowhere near the North Shore.

2.  Assuming your origin is either Salem or Marblehead, was your final destination located near/along either I-95 or US 1?  If so, your GPS is likely routing you onto MA 128 South due to the numerous traffic lights that are along MA 114 between MA 128 & I-95/US 1.  While going 114W/128S/95N is roughly a mile longer than going 114W/95N; it's probably quicker in travel time.

If your destination is along I-93, north of I-495; it routed you 114W/128S/95S/93N instead of 114W/495S/93N probably for the same reason; traffic lights along MA 114.

Like MapQuest, I believe most GPS' on the market has settings that can be adjusted.  Your unit may be set on an All-Expressway mode.

[hotdogPi]

Fixed link: http://goo.gl/maps/zdrdk.

[PHLBOS]

Fixed link: http://goo.gl/maps/zdrdk.

If those are indeed was your origin & destination points (Middleton to Lawrence); then your GPS telling you to get on 128 (via 114 East) to get to your destination is definitely out to lunch.

[hotdogPi]

Fixed link: http://goo.gl/maps/zdrdk.

If those are indeed was your origin & destination points (Middleton to Lawrence); then your GPS telling you to get on 128 (via 114 East) to get to your destination is definitely out to lunch.

I was originally in Peabody, and it told me to take 128. We continued on 114 west. It kept telling us to turn (probably towards 93 at this point), and when we got to this point, that's when it finally told us to use 114.

[PHLBOS]

If those are indeed was your origin & destination points (Middleton to Lawrence); then your GPS telling you to get on 128 (via 114 East) to get to your destination is definitely out to lunch.

I was originally in Peabody, and it told me to take 128. We continued on 114 west. It kept telling us to turn (probably towards 93 at this point), and when we got to this point, that's when it finally told us to use 114.

Ah, that explains it.  The Peabody reference is key here and makes the GPS routing via 128S/95S/93N/495N more logical.  The reason for such routing being that MA 114 is littered with traffic lights and also has many sections where there's only a single through lane w/few or no passing zones.  I traveled that stretch and gotten frustrated when approaching a slow-moving vehicle.

As stated earlier, you might want to check your GPS settings to see if it's deliberately filtering out non-highways and adjust accordingly.

Problem solved.

[cpzilliacus]

It didn't take long on our DC trip for my parents to figure out that I was more accurate than the GPS.  It sent us down US 1 to Mount Vernon rather than the George Washington Parkway for some reason.

Double fail.

Many more signalized intersections along U.S. 1 (none on the Parkway south of the corporate limits of Alexandria), and much nicer scenery on the Parkway.

Posted speed limit on the Parkway is 45 MPH - sometimes strictly enforced by the U.S. Park Police.

[sdmichael]

Any mapping software has problems when it doesn't take into consideration details we all know about a route. A good example is I-5 vs SR-99 from Wheeler Ridge to Sacramento. I-5 is only 7 miles shorter. Most software will show I-5 as the "better" route, yet SR-99 has more services and more lanes. If one route is a minute faster or a mile shorter, the software chooses it. Sometimes those routes aren't faster, at all.

[agentsteel53]

Any mapping software has problems when it doesn't take into consideration details we all know about a route. A good example is I-5 vs SR-99 from Wheeler Ridge to Sacramento. I-5 is only 7 miles shorter. Most software will show I-5 as the "better" route, yet SR-99 has more services and more lanes. If one route is a minute faster or a mile shorter, the software chooses it. Sometimes those routes aren't faster, at all.

... and more local traffic, which can really add up in a four-lane section.  5 vs 99 can be a pretty complex decision - I usually go with 99 when I am going to Sacramento, or sometimes I will even cut across on 120 to get to the Bay Area... 5 when I just want to make time.

then there's also 101.

[cpzilliacus]

Any mapping software has problems when it doesn't take into consideration details we all know about a route. A good example is I-5 vs SR-99 from Wheeler Ridge to Sacramento. I-5 is only 7 miles shorter. Most software will show I-5 as the "better" route, yet SR-99 has more services and more lanes. If one route is a minute faster or a mile shorter, the software chooses it. Sometimes those routes aren't faster, at all.

I have seen more than a few GPS-aided long trips that involve passing around Washington, D.C. where the software tries to route them through the city instead of around by way of the Capital Beltway.

That is always bad advice for people that do not intimately know the D.C. network of streets and highways.

[Stratuscaster]

Most GPS receivers offer "fastest/quickest" and "shortest" - which are not always the same. Then there's the "speed limit" data - I just updated my Garmin 1390LMT with maps dated 2013.40 (I think) - and it STILL has the wrong speed limit for a number of roads that were changed here over 3 years ago.

It helps to have at least a little bit of knowledge about where you are headed - perhaps scout the trip in Google Maps first so you can see "oh, yes - I-495 goes around DC - and I think I'd like to go around it rather than through it." So when the GPS starts squawking, you can ignore it, knowing that (eventually) it'll get back on track on the other side of the beltway.

Trust your GPS implicitly and it'll get you close, it'll get you lost, or it'll get you hurt.

[rickmastfan67]

Here's another GPS fail, this time in PA:
http://www.weather.com/video/man-drives-into-river-blames-gps-49049