Death by GPS

They coined a term for the stupidity of following a GPS into unfamiliar
territory and not having a compass, map or a large supply of drinking
water -- "Death by GPS"

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/01/30/3362727/death-by-gps-in-desert.html

I wonder what the courts would decide if the person that got lost
decides to sue the GPS manufacterer.

-wolfgang
--
Wolfgang S. Rupprecht http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/ (IPv6-only)

On Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:42:27 -0800, "Wolfgang S. Rupprecht"


It is always the end user's fault. Read the terms of use that comes
up on the screen during boot, or by hitting the "about" key.

On Thu, 03 Feb 2011 16:25:54 -0600, Nicholas


Darwin at work? Clearly the woman should never have left the city not
knowing a single thing about survival, or how to get out of trouble.

I learned my lesson about maps a long time ago. Seeing a feed river
on a USGS Topo Map, I had picked out a place for camping. Noted that
the map detail was 40 or so years out of date. When I got there, the
riverbed was nothing more than a groove in dirt. Dry as a bone.

As S.I. Hiakawa once said, in "Maps and Territories," the map is not
the thing (itself). It is merely a snapshot of a moment in time, and
as we know, topography changes. It is also noted that such features
on maps cannot be relied on for life-critical situations.

Wells dry up, riverbeds get diverted for agriculture, new
infrastructure, and so on. Also, water in such places may be
seasonal.

The map is not the thing. Time and people change things. But back to
the issue of who is responsible, it is still the human using the tool,
manufacturing defects notwithstanding.

Lg

On 2011.02.03 17:25 , Nicholas wrote:
r
=2Ehtml

It has nothing to do with the "terms of use".

It has to do with human stupidity in relying on navigation devices for=20
which they do not understand the limitations. For that matter many=20
people do not even have basic navigation skills and have become=20
increasingly dependent on their GPS's.

I've driven and walked in Death Valley with temperatures over 45=B0C. It=
=20
is bone dry. I carried in 10 litres of water (for a half day outing to=20
the "racetrack") in case something went wrong.

And though I intended to exit to the SW-W of the racetrack with a high=20
enough body SUV, the signs there made it clear that it was a high risk=20
endeavour (nobody would know we were there; no cell phone coverage; we=20
had no radio to xmit with). Given that we had not seen a single other=20
person south of the volcanoes (an hour and a half to the north), we=20
decided to go back and out towards the volcano and not the riskier route =

to the W.

http://maps.google.com/local_url?q=3Dhttp://www.panoramio.com/photo/30566=
172&ct=3Dgoogle_earth:redirectp&oi=3Dpanoramio.n.20110127._._&s=3DANYYN7m=
aE8TuXRudBVJqhhuiupRP-UOpOQ

or http://preview.tinyurl.com/4s28vs3

I've driven on _much_ worse. But the combination of risks (heat,=20
dryness, /communications, possible mechanical failure, food/water (we=20
had 3 days of food and 2 - 3 days of water, cost of a vehicle recover if =

needed) made the prudent decision to exit over friendlier roads and=20
towards the more active north end of the park.

(This cost us a day in our vacation as we couldn't find a hotel room=20
that night until we drove to in Pahrump.)

The decision was not GPS related. Though we had 2 GPS's (vehicle and=20
laptop), we also had a detailed topo map showing the roads and trails,=20
magnetic compasses and time pieces - and the skills to use them.

The decision was increasing and compounding risks based. That's another =

skill (with navigation) that a lot of people simply have not learned:=20
how to evaluate risk.

Quote from the story: "A lot of people don't realize you should just=20
turn around and go back the way you came," she said. "We see that a lot=20
here."


--=20
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