Posted on 01/23/2023 7:23:03 PM PST by george76
It was easy to make jokes last summer when reports surfaced that Google Maps and other navigation systems were wrongly directing people off of Interstate 80 and rerouting drivers through Colorado.
Sure, it added eight hours to a trip, but it wasn’t necessarily dangerous.
But seven months later, it’s still happening. And in the winter months, it could be deadly.
The problem is these navigation apps continue to send the wrong information primarily on or around Interstate 80 in southcentral Wyoming. The Rock Springs area seems to be the hot spot.
On one day last month, the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office rescued nine people who got stuck on unmaintained seasonal dirt roads.
The drivers didn’t intentionally seek them out, they were guided there, said Jason Mower, Sweetwater County’s public affairs director.
“Each was mistakenly misled to the same remote patchwork of untrodden tertiary and quaternary roads thanks to their in-car GPS navigation systems,” Mower said. “All of them were marooned by modern technology.”
It’s happening in Carbon County too. It got so bad that the county had to close roads, build fences and make signs that say, “Your GPS is wrong. This road is closed!!”
Dec. 13
But on Dec. 13, it got particularly hairy.
Early that day, a family of three from Wisconsin was trying to get to Rock Springs from Casper when their SUV’s navigation system put them on an unmaintained road in the Red Desert during a blizzard.
“They were 40 miles north of the Interstate between Rock Springs and Rawlins — in the middle of nowhere,” Mower told Cowboy State Daily.
Thankfully there was cell service — which is no guarantee in some parts of Wyoming — so the family was able to call emergency services.
They didn’t know where they were exactly, so the sheriff’s office assembled its search-and-rescue team and headed out in the sub-zero weather.
By the time they found the family, the SUV was covered in a foot of snow more than 90 miles from Rock Springs.
The rescue vehicles picked up six more people stranded along the way and didn’t get back into Rock Springs until past midnight.
“They were all either new to the area or from out of state and were mistakenly diverted by their vehicle navigation system to the same road,” Mower said.
Thankfully, the sheriff’s office has an experienced search-and-rescue team that was able to go out and save the stranded motorists in whiteout conditions and sub-zero temperatures.
But what if it keeps happening?
Can’t Someone Fix It?
The Wyoming Department of Transportation said its geographic information system unit is in talks with Google and other navigation companies to remedy the issue.
“All the companies WYDOT’s GIS program has worked with so far are willing to work with us to fix the issue, and the teamwork is much appreciated,” WYDOT spokesperson Jordan Achs told Cowboy State Daily.
Mower was more specific. He said his conversations with WYDOT revealed that the agency is “finalizing negotiations with major navigation providers to feed their official mapping data into those vehicle GPS navigation systems.”
Neither WYDOT nor Mower could provide dates where an electronic partnership could happen, but Mower said there are ways, which were realized last month, that they can be proactive in warning motorists.
Mower said the sheriff’s office issued a transit alert on its own social media accounts.
He said he acknowledges that most out-of-state drivers wouldn’t be following those accounts, but it was a good first step.
The next step was more important. Working with WYDOT, they were able to create and issue customized messages on the agency’s electronic bulletin boards along interstates.
All with the same message: Don’t believe your GPS.
Two, Three, Four More Months Of Winter
Since Dec. 13, there hasn’t been a repeat performance. There have been isolated incidents, but nothing of that magnitude.
Although the calendar says there are only two more months of winter ahead, any Wyomingite knows better. There’s at least three more months, which could extend into four more months.
Until then, Achs says it’s best to pay attention to WYDOT’s road and travel page, app and social media accounts.
And if a navigation app takes a driver to a county or service road, don’t go, she said. Instead, call the county or WYDOT to get up-to-date road information.
And it’s always good to use common sense, Mower said.
“If the conditions are bad like a whiteout and Siri or Alexa is advising you go on a dirt road, you should probably think twice about it,” he said.
They’ve got one near me that’s supposed to connect two highways. It’s someone’s driveway.
Google maps also always takes you through the WORST sections of town in cities.
Without fail, it always showed the best route through Syracuse right through the heart of the most dangerous sections of Syracuse.
Mr. mm tries to use it when we travel and I hate it.
“Each was mistakenly misled to the same remote patchwork of untrodden tertiary and quaternary roads thanks to their in-car GPS navigation systems,”
So probably NOT Google maps. Some friends have “in-car” navigation
Built into their cars and directions are different from Google’s.
“With Google maps you can send a text with your exact location.”
If cell service is good in that location. Sometimes our navigation will be working, but talk and text show “no service” in some areas. (The reason we left T-Mobile for Verizon — better coverage in our area.)
We like to use Garmin with free lifetime maps and traffic updates.
In some ways it’s better than Google, and it’s worse in some ways.
GPS navigation is only good if you know where you’re going and it can “assist” you in getting to your location but if you rely solely on it you’re an idiot.
If your GPS tries to put you on a dirt road, just ignore it and keep going and it will re-route.
Same here. Google Maps is wrong near our place, so I always tell people to find the mailbox and then how to go from there. Now if they'll only keep from getting stuck on the access road, that would be great. I don't know how many times I've had to pull people out of the deep sand that lurks right next to the tire tracks.
What would cause it to act differently?
“If cell service is good in that location.”
In the referenced case they had cell service.
” Sometimes our navigation will be working, but talk and text show “no service” in some areas.”
Car nav systems typically do not need cell service. Google maps works without if the maps are downloads.
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