# Harsh statement



## debodun (Nov 3, 2017)

I was telling some of the seniors at our last meeting about a day trip I took with a friend recently. The friend drove. While _en route_, we got lost, but quickly found our way again thanks to a road map I thought to bring. She has GPS in her car, but doesn't know how to use it. One of the people at the meeting remarked, "People like that shouldn't be allowed to drive!" 
Really???? Who hasn't ever gotten lost on a trip in a place with which you're unfamiliar? Seemed kind of a severe statement to make.


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## Aunt Bea (Nov 3, 2017)




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## Lara (Nov 3, 2017)

GPS is often at fault for getting us lost :drive:so I don't blame anyone for not using it. What that senior said does seem harsh but some people, when they are joking, you can't tell. They have dry humor or deadpan humor. British humor is another thing that can be confusing for Americans they say. But then I'm always making excuses for people...to a flaw at times. Some seniors do get grumpy. Meds? Lack of sleep? Bitter from regrets? I don't know.


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## Manatee (Nov 3, 2017)

I am sure that I have driven over 1,000,000 miles, but never owned or used a GPS.  For some folks a GPS is a crutch.  If they knew where they were going before they left it would be  distraction that they would manage without.


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## SeaBreeze (Nov 3, 2017)

Some people are just harsh Deb, always been folks like that.  I have a bad sense of direction and on long trips, or out of state,  my husband usually drives, he's very good with figuring out directions and reading maps.  If I have to go somewhere alone, I usually look it up on a map first and plan my route, always have a map in the car....never had a GPS in any of my vehicles.


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## terry123 (Nov 4, 2017)

I don't distance drive anymore.  I use map quest for unknown places around here if I am unsure of how to get there.


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## debodun (Nov 4, 2017)

I believe the disparaging comment was directed at getting lost, not about not using GPS.


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## SifuPhil (Nov 4, 2017)

Perhaps just a case of "holier than thou" applied to travel?


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## Marie5656 (Nov 4, 2017)

When my husband got his new Chevy, he had the complementary Onstar for 90 days. During that time, I used his car to go to a graduation party out of town and used the Onstar GPS to find the place.  With them, you go to the app, and key in your address and it sends info to the car.   I got so distracted by the voice commands I turned it off.  I had already Google mapped the directions, and the GPS directions would have added miles to my drive.


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## tnthomas (Nov 4, 2017)

SifuPhil said:


> Perhaps just a case of "holier than thou" applied to travel?



Yep, looks like it to me.


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## oldman (Nov 6, 2017)

We had GPS on the planes that I flew. It is really not used to find our destination, but allows us to track our flight as to where we are at the moment on a map. The FMS linked to satellites guide the plane to its destination. The Traffic Controllers cannot get a tracking on the plane through GPS, only through their radar system. This is why Malaysia Flight MH 370 could not be located using the plane's GPS system. I think, don't know for sure, but I believe that the GPS on boats, like cruise ships work differently and can be tracked by the Coast Guard. Gee, now I will have to check that out.


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## Meanderer (Nov 6, 2017)

It might have just been a "trigger response".  I have been known to say "They otta' be shot" or "30 days in the electric chair"....but don't really mean it.


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## SifuPhil (Nov 6, 2017)

Meanderer said:


> It might have just been a "trigger response".  I have been known to say "They otta' be shot" or "*30 days in the electric chair*"....but don't really mean it.



Dang, boy, I thought _*I *_was rough ...


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## Smiling Jane (Nov 6, 2017)

debodun said:


> I believe the disparaging comment was directed at getting lost, not about not using GPS.



As if the disparager has never gotten lost, or maybe he's one of those guys who will drive for hours trying to find his way so he doesn't have to ask for directions.

There's a phenomenon known as 'death by GPS' that has been happening for  some time now. Google it if you don't believe me. The first I heard of  it was a family that was sent onto a closed mountain road and they ran  into severe snow conditions. Rescuers had no idea they were there and  they couldn't get out to get help.


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## debbie in seattle (Nov 7, 2017)

My husband and I can’t find our way out of a paper bag!   Thank god for GPS systems.


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## jujube (Nov 7, 2017)

The websites for a lot of the RV parks we stay at say "DO NOT USE YOUR GPS TO FIND US.....FOLLOW OUR DIRECTIONS!"  Following your GPS will quite often end you up on a dead-end road, which is not at all what you want to do if you're towing a large RV.  

I have an old GPS that I use for "wide" directions, i.e. point me in the general direction of something, but I can't trust it for specifics.


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## Lethe200 (Nov 8, 2017)

A lot of the early built-in auto nav systems are surprisingly difficult to use. Also, like all maps they need to be updated, and with earlier models, it was *expensive* to update. 

My sister bought an Acura TL sedan over 10 yrs ago. Two years later she discovered updating the GPS would cost her another $350! It was cheaper to buy a stand-alone Garmin GPS so she did that instead. She could buy the TOL model Garmin with lifetime free updates for that much.

One of the features I specifically looked for in our recent new car purchase was an easy-to-use nav system. Ours is voice-activated (you still should be parked to use it safely, btw) and excellent for 90% of the driving we do, which is to urban addresses. Satellite tracking allows traffic updates through Sirius XM. Map updates are roughly around $60, depending on your car model.

I still keep my Magellan GPS, however. It's superior in storing addresses - on our driving trips it's not unusual for me to store 25-40 temporary addresses in it, set up either by itinerary destinations or geographic region. Also, the Magellan has an easy-to-use "least freeways" alternate routing that has sent us on some breath-taking back roads. It always gives estimated destination arrival time based on vehicle speed and traffic advisories, which has saved us on more than one occasion. The Magellan ETA is a touch more accurate than our car's built-in nav, and has a more active "traffic advisory: do you want to re-route now?" feature.


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