Families led astray by their GPS units
These days, it just doesn’t seem like the holiday season without news reports of stranded families who have been led astray by their trusty GPS units.
Last week, the Rhoads and Griffin-Garrison families each packed up their SUVs and set out on separate holiday road trips through the Oregon wilderness. Both families wound up stuck in the snow after their GPS units led them down hazardous, unplowed backcountry roads. The Rhoadses were trapped for three days and the Griffin-Garrisons were stranded for twelve hours. With no food and very little formula for their 11-month old baby, the Griffin-Garrisons became so distraught that they even filmed a goodbye video.
Thankfully, both families were eventually rescued. After repeated attempts, the Rhoadses were finally able to get a 911 call to connect. Authorities were able to triangulate their position via cell towers and send out a rescue team.
The Griffin-Garrison rescue required slightly more creative thinking. When the couple and their baby failed to show up at their relatives’ home for Christmas, Griffin’s uncle called a friend who had a GPS unit similar to his nephew’s. He was able to map the route the family had likely taken. He set out with water, food, blankets and shovels to try and locate his nephew’s family. After almost turning back more than once, he spotted footsteps in the snow and a few minutes later he saw Griffin waving him down from the hood of his SUV.
Georges Kleinbaum, Oregon’s search and rescue coordinator, said the state regularly fields calls from motorists who are stranded after following their vehicles’ GPS into the wilderness. He warns against drivers relying solely on their GPS devices for directions.
“Part of it is common sense. We hear stories about people being told to take a particular road and when they get there, it’s half-covered with rockfall and broken trees. That should be a warning sign that this is not a regularly maintained road. Motorists should follow their instincts.”
If the GPS directs you to a “tiny dirt road in the middle of nowhere,” think twice.
It wasn’t until this summer that Dave and I ventured reluctantly into the high-tech world of GPS navigation. We finally broke down and bought one for our Michigan road trip. Although it was undeniably handy at times, more than once good ol’ TomTom took us down an unpaved road that seemed to lead nowhere. But his shortcuts always worked out for us, and now every time we’re in unfamiliar territory we tend to “just trust TomTom.”
Thankfully, these situations have never occurred during bad weather or when we’re deep in the wilderness. But I’d like to think that if we do ever find ourselves blindly following TomTom down unpaved mountain roads in the middle of a snowstorm, common sense will prevail and we’ll stop and consult a good old-fashioned paper map.
