Always Trust Your GPS

[RedAngie]

The driver of a large tractor trailer followed the instructions on his GPS and drove right onto the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, drove several miles on it into the neighboring town of Ventnor, then got stuck when the Boardwalk narrowed and he couldn't find a way to exit.

http://a.abcnews.com/images/Weird/WireAP_d4066c2bd55d40c88fb332632be9f40f_12x5_992.jpg

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

The real question is not whether machines think, but whether men do.

B.F. Skinner.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Here is a full write up.
http://www.nj.com/atlantic/index.ssf/2017/09/gps_leads_tractor_trailer_to_drive_on_to_boardwalk.html

 

[NHdisneylover]

The real question is not whether machines think, but whether men do.

B.F. Skinner.

I can see it happening. At 5:30 am it was likely dark out, making the change in road surface less obvious and seeing what's coming up ahead harder. Someone unfamiliar with the area following what appears to be legit GPS Navigation being told "turn here" and there was something road like at that moment....

 

[DisneyOma]

Maybe he had it on walk mode instead of drive mode?

 

[piccolopat]

Wonder what will happen when these trucks go driverless.

 

[Colleen27]

Mine once tried to send me off a cliff. I was trying to get back on the highway after a lunch stop and it said "Go straight for xxxx feet, then turn left onto Route Y". Only problem was, we were in the mountains and Route Y was about 75 feet below the parking lot I was in! The only way in and out of the lot was via a side street but the GPS apparently didn't know that.

They've gotten better, though. I remember when they used to say "turn left on..." in places where you have to do a Michigan left, or "turn right on.." streets that crossed expressways but didn't have exits.

 

[Bilberry]

GPS's can sometimes have bugs. I had an early GPS that gave the wrong directions when going through Atlanta. It happened a couple times, having me on my way to South Carolina instead of going north toward Tennessee. That was a portable unit. The new in car GPS I use doesn't have that problem.

 

[tvguy]

Second truck in 2 months according to the article. No word if the first truck driver was using GPS. Sounds like they need a barrier and or warning signs too.

 

[CarolAnn856]

This is what Albany Ave looks like when it meets the boardwalk, according to Google Maps. I can see why he thought it was a road, especially in the dark.

 

[JaxDad]

 

[smiths02]

GPS's can sometimes have bugs. I had an early GPS that gave the wrong directions when going through Atlanta. It happened a couple times, having me on my way to South Carolina instead of going north toward Tennessee. That was a portable unit. The new in car GPS I use doesn't have that problem.

They are better now, but I had one that would always have me take an access road of the interstate in Atlanta and then get back on the interstate (and this was BEFORE the GPS could monitor real time traffic well). It made absolutely no sense to exit and get back on the same road!

 

[pryncess527]

GPS's can sometimes have bugs. I had an early GPS that gave the wrong directions when going through Atlanta. It happened a couple times, having me on my way to South Carolina instead of going north toward Tennessee. That was a portable unit. The new in car GPS I use doesn't have that problem.

That's funny, I had an old GPS that would do the opposite -- when DH and I would head from our hometown in GA to where we lived in NC, the GPS would tell us to take 75N when the connector split. The first time it happened. my DH wanted me to do what the GPS said, he was like "maybe it knows something we don't" -- but I was driving and refused. I grew up in GA, there is no way my damn GPS knows something I don't about the connector ;p

He's always wanting to listen to the GPS in the face of reason, it drives me nuts. I think it's because his science/computer programming brain wants to have faith in the machine, but he should know better.

 

[ronandannette]

Luckily we've never been in such a precarious situation as this, but we certainly have been "steered wrong" by GPS before. We rely heavily on it when we travel and we've found the hardest thing in most cities is just getting out of the airport! 8 times out of ten the area will be under construction of one kind or another and the "lady in the box" doesn't seem to know it. I try to acquire a real paper map whenever possible and not just the rental agency ones either.

Mine once tried to send me off a cliff. I was trying to get back on the highway after a lunch stop and it said "Go straight for xxxx feet, then turn left onto Route Y". Only problem was, we were in the mountains and Route Y was about 75 feet below the parking lot I was in! The only way in and out of the lot was via a side street but the GPS apparently didn't know that.

They've gotten better, though. I remember when they used to say "turn left on..." in places where you have to do a Michigan left, or "turn right on.." streets that crossed expressways but didn't have exits.

I just gotta ask - what's a Michigan left?

 

[NHdisneylover]

I just gotta ask - what's a Michigan left?

Turn right, then make a u turn to turn left (it's set up to be done that way)

 

[Klayfish]

His GPS was really messed up...it told him to make a right when he got to the boardwalk...it should have told him to go left...that's where all the casinos are.

Yes, GPS is definitely not a 100% sure thing. But it beats the pants off the good 'ol days of paper maps. I worked in the field for many years before GPS became widely and cheaply available. I very much remember the days of having county map books in my car. I don't long for those days.

I also was in college working as a valet during the very early years of in car GPS. Man, those things were primitive. I think Avis had them (maybe Hertz, I forget) in some rentals, and it was called "Never Lost" or something like that. It was extremely inaccurate by todays standards, but I thought it was super cool back then.

 

[HarperLeigh]

Turn right, then make a u turn to turn left (it's set up to be done that way)

Wouldn't that put you back in the exact opposite direction you just came from?

 

[Bilberry]

That's funny, I had an old GPS that would do the opposite -- when DH and I would head from our hometown in GA to where we lived in NC, the GPS would tell us to take 75N when the connector split. The first time it happened. my DH wanted me to do what the GPS said, he was like "maybe it knows something we don't" -- but I was driving and refused. I grew up in GA, there is no way my damn GPS knows something I don't about the connector ;p

He's always wanting to listen to the GPS in the face of reason, it drives me nuts. I think it's because his science/computer programming brain wants to have faith in the machine, but he should know better.

I was similar to your husband, the first time it happened I took the recommended exist! It didn't take long for me to realize I and the GPS has messed up. That happened years ago but I still hear about the time I on my way to S. Carolina. Ironically an uncle by marriage is a retired engineer that used to make GPS satellites. My aunt and uncle would tell me often I should visit them. They live in S. Carolina and for a short while I was on my way to their town.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Wouldn't that put you back in the exact opposite direction you just came from?

No. You turn right. Then make a u turn back onto the street you turned right onto. The net result is as if you had turned left in the first place. It's set up to make turning left less dangerous. It's odd though. Very common in Michigan and hardly at all anywhere else

 

[Colleen27]

Wouldn't that put you back in the exact opposite direction you just came from?

The way it works is, some roads are divided and you can't turn left onto or off of them at all. You turn right, then do a u-turn through the divider, to end up going in the same direction you'd have gone in if you turned left at the intersection. Like this: