never-trust-your-GPS horror stories

[kphoger]

the only thing I don't remember is if the Thruway exit from I-690 was closed, or if the driver took an alternate route for some other unknown reason.

Route clinching.

Except that no routes were clinched. We were already at the western terminus of I-690, exited before the end of NY 690, and traveled only partial segments of NY 370 and NY 34.

The driver was just looking to add some segments.

Precisely.  They were the only segments remaining to clinch.

[lstone19]

As I just posted in another topic, we just moved to Reno, NV. Last winter, already following Reno news, we were hearing all sorts of stories of people blindly following their GPS up impassable dirt roads during a period that both I-80 and US50 were closed due to a blizzard. Since the apps knew 80 and 50 were closed, it just found another not officially closed route and people just followed it rather than applying some common sense.

So fast forward to last Saturday night. I was on my way home from Sacramento to Reno and due to some snow, 80 was "chains or 4WD with snow tires." I wasn't concerned as I had 48 hours old new tires on my Subaru. Halfway up, the app pinged with "we found a faster route." I'm not sure but I think it was a piece of old US40 that's still extant Thank you but no - I'll just stick to 80. It was 1am and there was very little traffic - most of the trucks were stopped waiting it out rather than putting on chains. The traffic map had 80 as red as what traffic was moving was doing the 30mph speed limit when chain controls are in effect (and I suspect all the trucks that were stopping was also confusing "Google Central" as to what traffic was doing). In the end, I could hold road speed to the chain checkpoint where there was no waiting and not even an inspection (he saw I had a Subaru and said "you're good" and off I went).

EDIT: Rereading what I wrote, I realized the way I wrote it makes me sound like one of those overconfident idiots in snow. I'm not. And even though I said I just moved to Reno, not my first time in the Sierra Nevada in snow (used to live in the Bay Area).

[ZLoth]

As I just posted in another topic, we just moved to Reno, NV. Last winter, already following Reno news, we were hearing all sorts of stories of people blindly following their GPS up impassable dirt roads during a period that both I-80 and US50 were closed due to a blizzard. Since the apps knew 80 and 50 were closed, it just found another not officially closed route and people just followed it rather than applying some common sense.

No joke. Too many people have attempted to bypass a I-80 closure utilizing the infamous "Dog Valley Road" starting in Verdi, NV despite this sign, this sign. or this sign. Because of the severe upward slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains, winter storms can be very nasty, and I stayed home in Sacramento viewing the snow from the CalTrans Cameras.