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Couple Stranded 3 Days After GPS Leads Them Astray 12

Posted by samzenpus from the volcano-explorer-package dept.
A couple got stuck in snow for three days after letting their SUV's navigation system guide them through the high desert of Eastern Oregon. The pair found themselves stranded on a remote forest road in the Winema-Fremont National Forest. After three days, atmospheric conditions changed enough for their GPS-enabled cell phone to get a weak signal, and they could call for help. "GPS almost did 'em in and GPS saved 'em," Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger said. "It will give you options to pick the shortest route. You certainly get the shortest route. But it may not be a safe route."

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Couple Stranded 3 Days After GPS Leads Them Astray More

Couple Stranded 3 Days After GPS Leads Them Astray

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  • You are the first nominee for a 2010 Darwin Awards honorable mention for a brave attempt at removing yourself from the gene pool that unfortunately ultimately failed.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by slashqwerty ( 1099091 )

      You are the first nominee for a 2010 Darwin Awards honorable mention for a brave attempt at removing yourself from the gene pool that unfortunately ultimately failed.

      From the article:

      The couple was well-equipped for winter travel, carrying food, water and warm clothes, the sheriff said.

      These two survived because they were well prepared. That hardly makes them candidates for a Darwin Award.

      Regardless, these two were not familiar with the area. The point of a GPS navigation system is to direct you to y

  • I'm sure they also drive off cliffs because the GPS said so. Learn a little bit about navigation before you end up a statistic.
  • A better article is available here [oregonlive.com].

    But the big question is, are the GPS companies liable for this? There will no doubt be deaths due to GPS routing people on inappropriate roads. And there will no doubt be lawsuits that the GPS companies knew roads were inappropriate but didn't remove them from their database.

    • But the big question is, are the GPS companies liable for this?

      Almost certainly not.
      Firstly - the GPS service is provided by the US military ; have fun trying to sue them without getting shot or invaded.
      Secondly, you'd have to demonstrate that the GPS signal had actually provided them with false information in some form, which led to their being in the "wrong place at the wrong time", which it almost certainly didn't.
      Thirdly, if there is fault anywhere, then it probably lays in the "shortest route" algorith

  • or instead of some funny SUV get a land rover

  • I use GPS all the time and it's great. Sometimes it can get a little screwed up with new construction and give a bad turn. No worries. Just drive through it and the unit will figure it out soon enough. Even when I'm going through a complicated interchange and get the turn wrong, the GPS will let me know. No worries, it'll tell me where I can safely make a U-turn and correct my mistake.

    All the same, I do review the route it recommends before driving it. When it's routing me through a desert in the middle of

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