GPS leads couple into Oregon wilderness, snow and lack of common sense keep them there 3 days
By Vlad Savov 
posted December 29th 2009 5:01AM
posted December 29th 2009 5:01AM
posted December 29th 2009 5:01AM
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going home?
there's a map for that
How the hell is this possible?!
@U238Shell
Simple, if you read the source article. They were driving in a snowy area and it just so happens that they got stuck in the snow and couldn't move for about 3 days. They weren't driving the 3 days like what Vladislav mistakenly says in his blog post. Of course, the couple could have planned ahead about what routes to take since the fastest route isn't always the safest.
@U238Shell
Have a spotty GPS connection?
There's an idiot for that.
@U238Shell
With Navigon's technology, everything is possible!
(I know, I own one!!!)
so wait....my phone will ping out coordinates to the government at its own discretion? I don't like this...
@B3astofthe3ast I'm guessing they were using OnStar or a similar system
@B3astofthe3ast
no. this is a feature of e-911. you know when you call 911 from your cell phone and it goes into "emergency" mode.
God I'm getting bored with blogs calling people "morons" or lacking "common sense" when this stuff happens. They trusted the GPS, like millions of people do every day in areas they aren't familiar with. The map was inaccurate, but how would you know that? Everyone's got 20/20 hindsight from their armchairs and desks it seems.
Also, it wasn't the phone GPS that led them into the mess, it was the SUV's GPS system.
The phone's GPS is what saved them apparently, as well as packing properly for winter travel with enough water, food, and warm clothing. I mean, read the article, Vladislav.
@(Unverified) Thanks, I've corrected the post.
@(Unverified)
yes. people do trust their devices without second thought. and it's people like you that cant seem to realize what a problem that is. there was no need for emergency services to be dispatched for something that could have been avoided with just a little bit of independent thinking.
@(Unverified)
Sure, this story is getting a little old, but that does not mean they're wrong in calling these people morons. Mr. Rhoads was not stupid for trusting his GPS, he was stupid for not being able to figure out when the thing has led him astray and remedy the situation. I can understand a couple hours lost due to inaccurate maps, but three days? Come on. That's pathetic.
@(Unverified) But the article states......
"While traveling through Eastern Oregon last week, John Rhoads and Starry Bush-Rhoads became lost after a cell phone equipped with a GPS told them to turn off the highway and onto a forest service road"
Not a SUV GPS but a cellphone GPS.....No that it matters...but maybe they had trouble reading too.
@(Unverified) Well you are a "moron" if you rely solely on the GPS without looking out for road signs and getting stuck for 3 days. I bet this guy didn't update the maps on his GPS system.
caught this on gizmodo. they deserved to get lost. come on people. use common sense!. (thats an oxymoron, i know) it doesn't take a genius to realize that a forest service road leads nowhere. unfortunately all this story will prompt is for manufacturers to continue to develop for the lowest common denominator. some small part of me wishes that they stayed lost for a little longer.. just long enough to be considered for a darwin award.
I just don't get why people get lost on those roads, perhaps I'm just used to them living in Oregon. It always seems like people who get lost on those roads are from out of state (James Kim from Cnet, these people, ect.)
The machine knows!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yyKrS8jwSY
@analist howdoyouknowaboutthemachine?!
Wouldn't they have realized when they saw a sign, "Now entering the State of Oregon," (or similar) be a good time to realize they're going the WRONG way?
Last time I checked, Nevada is EAST of California and Oregon is NORTH of California. If you're heading north and you don't realize you're in Oregon, then you probably need to go back to school to learn some geography or how to know which way is north, east, west, and south.
GPS Knows best, always!
why is the russian who wrote the article ridiculing the woman's name? somebody should tell him that that kind of primitive humor may be considered funny in his awful morally and economically bankrupt homeland, but here people just don't do that. i guess decency hasn't caught on in russia yet.
@lebowski Interesting. So you purport to be open-minded and worldly while at the same time confusing a distinctly Bulgarian name for a Russian one?
@lebowski
Wow, did you really think that was okay to write? I honestly don't get some of these posters. I understand this is an AOL affiliate, but the level of ignorance is just astounding. Especially when it's wrapped in a tarp of indignation.
@lebowski Wait, really? So the woman's name is 'Starry Bush' and we're not supposed to chuckle? Sorry, don't work that way... decency is one thing, but that name is straight out of a porn movie.
@GirTheRobot
GPSSY: LOST IN THE FOREST III
Wow, that was inappropriate.
But I'm still gonna hit submit.
Some of you people must be absolutely perfect! All humans make mistakes, ALL! Thank goodness they didn't die!
@Stephanie C
No one here is claiming they're perfect. But I'm hoping that most would realize after the first couple hours that something isn't quite going the way it should and maybe try to get back to civilization.... instead of being lost for 3 straight days in the wrong direction.
@ack154
Does the part about them getting STUCK mean anything to anyone?
"In the town of Silver Lake, the unit told them to turn right on Forest Service Road 28, and they followed that and some spur roads nearly 35 miles before getting stuck in about 1 1/2 feet of snow near Thompson Reservoir, the sheriff said."
They were stuck, not driving around, for 3 days. I would say their only mistake was perhaps not seeking an alternate route that lead through areas where there are towns and paved roads,. But I don't know all the details and I will not judge. Perhaps that WAS the only way to get where they were going. Being unfamiliar with the area, why wouldn't they rely on their GPS?
To correct some misconceptions about the event (read the full story in USA today or MSNBC or your national news service of chocie)
- The couple was in Portland, Oregon and plotted a course home to Nevada.
- The GPS was connecting them to another major interstate via some farm roads and spur roads.
- They only drove 35 miles on the small roads and and got stuck in snow.
- They had no cell phone signal
- After 2 days they finally RECEIVED a weak signal that allowed them to call out for help (using two different phones) and send their coordnates to emergency personnel.
- They were stuck in the snow for 2.5 days before rescuers pulled their vehicle out with a wench.
I think the engadget author is exaggerating any mistakes by the couple.
@christophertx
Agreed. I'm not sure what the terrain looked like but I'm sure it's not like they were driving through a place that looked like NYC then turned left into a forest and drove around for 3 days. And when they were driving, I'm sure they felt a bit uneasy but pressed forward in hopes of seeing some sign of civilization.
They're obviously using GPS because they have no idea where they're going. I would sooner trust a GPS than my absolute dearth of knowledge in this regard.
@christophertx
The author overlooked the part about them being actually STUCK in snow, in favor of slanting the article.
@christophertx
I hope you meant "winch". I don't think the wife would have been very happy with a wench showing up. LOL
@christophertx
Chris, are you suggesting that Starry Bush is a woman of ill repute or are you just not sure about how to spell winch?
@christophertx
Agreed. This Engadget article is terrible. The statements made in the article are not factual, and clearly misrepresented to make for better reading. If that is the case, I can make up some great stories too...
"At what point in the next three days of plowing deeper and deeper into snow-covered Oregon do you start suspecting that maybe something is amiss?"
They were stuck in the snow, not driving through it for days on end.
Wait is this Engadget or Fox News? Exaggerating a bit and masking the story?
Years ago, some researchers handed a bunch of calculators modified to give wrong answers to some adolescents. The researchers discovered that these kids had become so reliant on calculators that they could not even estimate in their heads to know that the answers they were getting were wrong. To quote Ronald Reagan (out of context) "Trust but verify".
Recently I bought a large paper, folding map of my state as backup. Yes, these people were foolish. But, can you imagine the conversation in their car? Wife: Honey, I think this is not the right turn.
Husband: Trust the GPS, dear.
Wife: Honey? Do you remember last time when it took us an hour to get back on the road?
and so on............
But, as a warning, yoru cell phone and GPS are all transmitting you location constantly back to an underground bunker in Langley Virginia. THEY KNOW WHERE YOU ARE at all times.
this reminds me of the episode of The Office when Michael drives his car into the lake because his GPS tells him to
dictionary.com- wench: a country lass or working girl. I was speaking of the rescuer that pulled them out...nah....I just misspelled it in my haste! Thanks for the correction (and laugh).
I manage a team of people who travel the country doing equipment inspections. The availability of cheap dash top gps systems has been a net negative for me. I now have a whole generation of employees who, when the gps takes them to the wrong spot, have no idea what to do and simply give up. We have had rental cars damaged by being driven on dirt logging roads in the middle of nowhere. Several times, I have had employees drive hundreds of miles in the wrong direction because they brainlessly followed the instructions from the machine.
Before making a long drive in an unfamiliar area you should always look at a paper map to get a general idea of the route. Many GPS systems will pull you off the nice safe interstate and put you on a dirt road through the mountains because the route is two miles shorter.
@BdgBill1
Hm.. what does this make you?? im not sure what are you trying to tell us? im confused :)
just like someone saying oh my bf/gf is stupid....im like okie.then you are way .....S .....Per
alrite love me dont hate me hehe
On a positive note, it appears that the couple was at least prepared for the conditions. It was reported that they had blankets, food, and other emergency supplies in the vehicle. So, they might have been a bit dumb, but not stupid.
I'm glad this one had a happy ending. It sounded almost like James Kim's tragic story from December 2006 (former editor of CNet who lost his way in snowy Oregon, then died from exposure trying to find help while leaving his wife + 2 kids waiting in the car).
I like the Iphone versus other brands phone discussion best :) they are the funniest :) seriously who wouldnt agree with me ? :)
sorry to jack this threat
Well. These are the kind of terrible things that can happen when you buy an iPhone. It's karma for actually purchasing the worst useless gimmick EVER.
I have used several navigation software packages on my windows mobile phones over the years. Each of them at one time or another led our car on an adrenaline pumping adventure.
We have taken a side trip on a rocky and tiny desert road with a cliff, a summer road with a small bridge in the winter with 2 feet of snow, and small dark streets that nobody ever uses. In all cases the GPS thought it would be faster to get off the main road and take a shortcut, none of which were faster by the way.
We have had times when the GPS POI catalog was just bogus, taking us to wrong places.
I am now very wary of GPS in general, others should be too.
its a fail,but still fuck the gps they allwaays fail on somepoint.
I drive highway 31 about 6-8 times a year. It is definitely a rural part of oregon but when you are on it (even and maybe especially in the winter) there is only one way to go. This is another classic example of people trusting their GPS and not using common sense. When you've been driving on a two lane road for 2 hours and your GPS suddenly tells you to turn onto an obviously untravelled gravel road I would hope most people would think twice. Let alone drive down it for 35 miles! They are lucky they had the supplies they needed to survive once they got stuck!
Engadget fail. Reading the article, the GPS did not lead them in the wrong direction or anything like that, but rather lead them to use a road that had too much snow, where they got stuck. I hope Vladislav Savov has the sense to update this article, because the Engadget summary is about 90% false.
The GPS did not lead them into the wilderness-- they did it on their own.
They clearly stated in interviews that they saw an old unkept road on the maps and decided that it was a more direct route to their destination and thus took it. Most everyone, one would think, would second guess that decision based on the snow storm, the size of the road, the fact that they were not near substantial cities and not take that road. It was not the fault of the technology, but human error.
GPS is there to assist a driver, not be their brain and logic center. I worked for the world leader of GPS technology for five years and some of the stories of morons that came in were just mind blowing; people clearly seeing that the road ended at the entrance of a lake yet kept driving, people almost following a route off a road, pilots flying in restricted airspace because they weren't using an aviation unit, etc. There are certainly errors in mapping and all mapping companies will admit that-- there is no perfect map-- but most accidents and mistakes are made by the person using the device, not the manufacturer or cartographer. Just my two cents.