Death by GPS refers to the death of people attributable, in part, to following GPS directions or GPS maps. [1] [2] [3] Death by GPS has been noted in several deaths in Death Valley, California, [4] [5] a lost hiker at Joshua Tree National Park in southeastern California, [6] and incidents in Washington State, Australia, England, Italy and Brazil.
This section needs expansionwith: This section is just a list and needs more information. You can help by adding to it. (October 2022) |
There are multiple reasons why people following GPS directions have become lost, been injured, or died. The reasons listed below may also include the lack of a working communications systems to call for help. Thus, drivers or hikers have ventured off the road or into remote, impassable, or dangerous areas. They could also drive on GPS until their vehicles were out of fuel, mired, or disabled; succumbed to hazardous climate or weather conditions, or become lost. [1] [7]
Allen Lin, in research published in 2017, provided a systematic analysis of the key themes in these incidents and the roles that navigation technologies played in them. [7]
Matthew McKenzie offers some precautions against death by GPS: "Use GPS and other mobile devices the way they should be used: as simple conveniences. Carry a real map, understand the local climate, and don't hesitate to turn around and go back the way you came if your directions don't 'feel' right." [1] The National Park Service has posted the following message on the Directions & Transportation page of the official Death Valley Park website: [8]
Using GPS Navigation
GPS Navigation to remote locations like Death Valley are notoriously unreliable. Numerous travelers have been directed to the wrong location or even dead-end or closed roads. Travelers should always carry up-to-date road maps to check the accuracy of GPS directions.
DO NOT DEPEND ONLY ON YOUR VEHICLE GPS NAVIGATION SYSTEM.
The McKenzie River is a 90-mile (145 km) tributary of the Willamette River in western Oregon in the United States. It drains part of the Cascade Range east of Eugene and flows westward into the southernmost end of the Willamette Valley. It is named for Donald McKenzie, a Scottish Canadian fur trader who explored parts of the Pacific Northwest for the Pacific Fur Company in the early 19th century. As of the 21st century, six large dams have been built on the McKenzie and its tributaries.
Gannett Peak is the highest mountain peak in the U.S. state of Wyoming at 13,810 feet (4,210 m). It lies in the Wind River Range within the Bridger Wilderness of the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Straddling the Continental Divide along the boundary between Fremont and Sublette counties, it has the second greatest topographic prominence in the state (7076') after Cloud Peak (7077'), and is the highest ground for 290.36 miles in any direction.
An automotive navigation system is part of the automobile controls or a third party add-on used to find direction in an automobile. It typically uses a satellite navigation device to get its position data which is then correlated to a position on a road. When directions are needed routing can be calculated. On the fly traffic information can be used to adjust the route.
Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets, real-time traffic conditions, and route planning for traveling by foot, car, bike, air and public transportation. As of 2020, Google Maps was being used by over one billion people every month around the world.
Fremont Peak is the third highest peak in the state of Wyoming, surpassed only by Gannett Peak and Grand Teton, and straddles the boundary between Fremont and Sublette counties in the Wind River Range. It is named for American explorer John C. Frémont who climbed the peak with Charles Preuss and Johnny Janisse from August 13 to August 15, 1842. Kit Carson had been with the climbing party on its first attempt at the peak, but had gone back for supplies the day Fremont and his men reached the summit. Carson is thought by some to have been the first to climb neighboring Jackson Peak. At that time, Fremont Peak was mistakenly thought to be the highest mountain in the Rocky Mountains, although there are actually over 100 higher peaks in the Rocky Mountain range.
This is a list of properties and districts in Ohio that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There are over 4,000 in total. Of these, 73 are National Historic Landmarks. There are listings in each of Ohio's 88 counties.
TomTom N.V. is a Dutch multinational developer and creator of location technology and consumer electronics. Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Amsterdam, TomTom released its first generation of satellite navigation devices to market in 2004. As of 2019 the company has over 4,500 employees worldwide and operations in 29 countries throughout Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas.
A navigation system is a computing system that aids in navigation. Navigation systems may be entirely on board the vehicle or vessel that the system is controlling or located elsewhere, making use of radio or other signal transmission to control the vehicle or vessel. In some cases, a combination of these methods is used.
Traffic reporting is the near real-time distribution of information about road conditions such as traffic congestion, detours, and traffic collisions. The reports help drivers anticipate and avoid traffic problems. Traffic reports, especially in cities, may also report on major delays to mass transit that does not necessarily involve roads. In addition to periodic broadcast reports, traffic information can be transmitted to GPS units, smartphones, and personal computers.
The Stampede Trail is a remote road and trail located in the Denali Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Apart from a paved or maintained gravel road for 8 miles (13 km) between Eight Mile Lake and the trail's eastern end, the route consists of a primitive and at times dangerous hiking or ATV trail following the path of the original road, which has deteriorated over the years. The route ends at an abandoned antimony mine at 63.740739°N 150.379229°W along Stampede Creek, a couple miles past Stampede Airport's grass airstrip.
The South Coast refers to the narrow coastal belt from the Shoalhaven district in the north to the state border with Victoria in the south in the south-eastern part of the State of New South Wales, Australia. It is bordered to the west by the coastal escarpment of the Southern Tablelands, and is largely covered by a series of national parks, namely Jervis Bay National Park, Eurobodalla National Park, and Beowa National Park. To the east is the coastline of the Pacific Ocean, which is characterised by rolling farmlands, small towns and villages along a rocky coastline, interspersed by numerous beaches and lakes.
Satellite navigation software or GNSS navigation software usually falls into one of the following two categories:
A satellite navigation device or satnav device, also known as a satellite navigation receiver or satnav receiver or simply a GPS device, is a user equipment that uses satellites of the Global Positioning System (GPS) or similar global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). A satnav device can determine the user's geographic coordinates and may display the geographical position on a map and offer routing directions.
The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) is a 3,083.8 mi (4,962.9 km), off-road bicycle touring route between Jasper, Alberta, Canada and Antelope Wells, New Mexico, USA. Completed in 1997, the GDMBR was developed by Adventure Cycling Association, who continue to maintain highly detailed route maps and a guidebook.
Turn-by-turn navigation is a feature of some satellite navigation devices where directions for a selected route are continually presented to the user in the form of spoken or visual instructions. The system keeps the user up-to-date about the best route to the destination, and is often updated according to changing factors such as traffic and road conditions. Turn-by-turn systems typically use an electronic voice to inform the user whether to turn left or right, the street name, and the distance to the next turn.
Toyota Entune is an integrated multimedia navigation and telematics system for Toyota automobiles that provides satellite-based information on traffic, weather, sports scores, stocks, and fuel prices via subscription through SiriusXM. When connected to a compatible mobile phone running the Entune app via radio or USB cable, the system provides a browser and other apps, including music services such as iHeartRadio, Pandora and XM Satellite Radio. The cell phone app supported iOS, Android, and Blackberry with different versions utilizing cell data. The system could be controlled with (limited) speech recognition, and optionally include the “Safety Connect” personalization system.
Wells Gray Provincial Park is a large wilderness park located in east-central British Columbia, Canada. The park protects most of the southern, and highest, regions of the Cariboo Mountains and covers 5,415 square kilometres. It is British Columbia's fifth largest provincial park, after Tweedsmuir, Tatshenshini, Spatsizi and Northern Rocky Mountains.
Yandex Maps is a Russian web mapping service developed by Yandex. The service provides detailed maps of the whole world, directions and estimated times of arrival for driving, walking, cycling, kick scooter, and public transportation navigation. It includes a search, information about traffic jams, routing and street panoramas. The service was launched in 2004.
Squaretop Mountain is an 11,695-foot-elevation (3,565-meter) mountain summit located in Sublette County of Wyoming, United States.
An underwater survey is a survey performed in an underwater environment or conducted remotely on an underwater object or region. Survey can have several meanings. The word originates in Medieval Latin with meanings of looking over and detailed study of a subject. One meaning is the accurate measurement of a geographical region, usually with the intention of plotting the positions of features as a scale map of the region. This meaning is often used in scientific contexts, and also in civil engineering and mineral extraction. Another meaning, often used in a civil, structural, or marine engineering context, is the inspection of a structure or vessel to compare actual condition with the specified nominal condition, usually with the purpose of reporting on the actual condition and compliance with, or deviations from, the nominal condition, for quality control, damage assessment, valuation, insurance, maintenance, and similar purposes. In other contexts it can mean inspection of a region to establish presence and distribution of specified content, such as living organisms, either to establish a baseline, or to compare with a baseline.