> And people wonder how drivers will follow a map right into a river or other doomsday scenario. <
I’m guilty of that. It’s just lucky that I got lost, and nothing worse. A couple of years ago I had to drive to a major city in another state. Never been there before. So I set the GPS, and off I go.
The next thing you know, I’m driving on this one-lane gravel road in the middle of nowhere. Forest all around. No houses. It was a ‘Deliverance’ moment.
It turns out that I had set my GPS to shortest route, as the crow flies.
Note to self: Pick the fastest route next time.
Same Thing happened to me about 20 years ago only with Yahoo maps.
I Watched a car drive between my barns and down the 2 track heading over the hill to my North fence.
Hopped in the Jeep and followed him.
finally caught him in the middle of nowhere headed South.
Turns out Yahoo had inadvertently mapped my property roads, and it was the shortest route to the next town over.
He didn’t think it was odd that the gates or dirt path was unusual as he was from a big city.
Two more weeks, and the autumn rains and snow would have stuck his car there until spring.
I always lock my gates now.
Yikes! Glad nothing bad happened save for a time loss.
“Shortest route” indeed, if you are a crow. 😕
If the correct route is supposed to be a back forest road, someone could get dangerously lost before realizing.
I do wonder if delivery people — after they personally experience the “system” getting things wrong — ever get the idea to look where they are going.
This happened to me last month on a drive to TN from KS. I ended up in backwater KY, on a two-lane road. Yes, I heard banjos.
Some Secret Service guys showed up in Powers, OR, years ago. investigating some overheard bar talk threatening Obama. Blown out of proportion, and after messing with a few of the locals, they asked about the shortest way back to I-5...Heh, heh, heh...