# Death by GPS **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 3, 2016, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-gps/753809 "2016-05-03T21:34:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-gps/753809/21 "2016-05-04T12:27:51Z")
People have been patting themselves on their backs over these stories ever since the first GPS navigators came out, but I wonder how big of a problem it really is. There have always been people who suck at navigating, people who make bad decisions about dodgy-looking shortcuts, people who misread maps, etc. Surely some of them were _helped out_ of a bad situation (or never tempted to get into one in the first place) because they had GPS, but we don’t know about them because they didn’t die of thirst or plummet down a ravine. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-gps/753809/22 "2016-05-04T13:05:53Z")
When people had paper maps,and the actual alignment of a street was not exactly the way it looked on paper, did a lot of cars run off the road? ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-gps/753809/23 "2016-05-04T14:56:38Z")
People were dying by paper maps before they were dying by GPS. New technology, same result. Here is one case I remember…was big news when it happened: > **[James Kim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Kim)** > > James Kim (August 9, 1971 – December 4, 2006) was an American television personality and technology analyst for the former TechTV international cable television network, reviewing products for shows including The Screen Savers, Call for Help, and Fresh Gear. At the time of his death he was working as a senior editor of MP3 and Digital Audio for CNET, where he wrote more than 400 product reviews. He also co-hosted a weekly video podcast for CNET's gadget blog, Crave, and a weekly audio podcast, Th... ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-gps/753809/24 "2016-05-04T15:18:22Z")
The GPS in a rental car when we were on vacation once told us to make a left turn on the Oakland Bay bridge in California, just past the toll plaza where there was not only no way to turn but no way to go back. Mr.Jc was driving at the time. We were hysterical with laughter. No idea what made it advise that! ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-gps/753809/25 "2016-05-04T15:26:03Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Yes, I think that “Death, attributable in part to naive over-reliance on GPS guidance” would be a more accurate title for the linked article. Navigation supported by GPS is a great tool at the driver’s disposal. The mistake some people make is to think it can’t go wrong and to not bother to check the information for reasonableness. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-gps/753809/26 "2016-05-04T15:27:25Z")
[Death Valley](http://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/living/travel/article2573180.html) is an open-air graveyard of European tourists who didn’t realize that California is much more vast and arid than they were expecting. Bring water! I’m so seriously! We also have a stereotype here of the Belgian or Dutch tourist who, not being used to American-style distances or climate, decides on a whim to take a detour from their New York or Florida vacation to take a day trip to LA, Las Vegas, or the Grand Canyon. There’s no such thing as a day trip by land to those places, and the wilderness is deadly. Please stay safe and tell a local where you are going! ---
**Author:** ![NeonMadman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-gps/753809/27 "2016-05-04T15:54:34Z")
I once used my GPS to get home to my house in northern New Jersey from an appointment in the Bronx. I didn’t know the Bronx very well, but once across one of the Hudson River bridges, I would know my way home with no problem. The thing is, the closest bridge across the Hudson from where I was in the Bronx would have been the George Washington Bridge (GWB), and, since it was getting into mid-afternoon, I figured the approach to the GWB would be a parking lot. So I wanted to head north, into Westchester County to the Tappan Zee Bridge (TZB). But Emily (my pet name for the GPS) wouldn’t listen; she wanted the GWB no matter what. I finally figured out the way to I-87 on my own, and headed for the TZB, where the traffic wouldn’t be likely to be as heavy. Emily was still insistent that I reverse course and go back to the GWB. _As I entered my driveway_, Emily was showing a two-hour drive to get home, and was still trying to get me to turn around, go back across the TZB, head south to the GWB, then cross that and come home from there. As I was turning into my driveway. ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-gps/753809/28 "2016-05-04T23:21:16Z")
No one uses GPS around here because it’s so unreliable. Tourists have been directed to drive up dry stream beds during which they sink and are sitting ducks for flash floods. There’s also a fun place where GPS tells you to make a sharp right and drive off the side of the bridge to drop 50 feet down onto another road in order to continue on your journey. I hope to someday be there when a self-driving car actually tries to do that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-gps/753809.md?page=1)