Choosing the road less traveled, at the behest of their GPS system, led a Nevada couple to a frightening, snowbound Christmas ordeal in Oregon. John Rhoads, 65, and his wife, Starry Bush-Rhoads, 67, used their Toyota Sequoia’s navigation system to guide them home to Reno from Portland, and were unable to call for help when they became stuck on a deserted road.
Their experience is raising questions about the trustworthiness of automated navigation systems, and experts are encouraging drivers not to solely rely on them in unfamiliar terrain. Instead, drivers should double-check to avoid potentially dangerous areas.
“You have to keep your brain on,” said Robert Sinclair Jr., a spokesperson for the New York chapter of the American Automobile Association. “Totally depending on these devices can send you on some really out-of-the-way journeys.”
The couple was traveling through the Winema-Fremont National Forest in Eastern Oregon on Christmas and apparently selected the option for the shortest route on their navigation system, according to media reports. That led them to turn right onto a secluded road they followed for 35 miles.
They were just outside the town of Silver Lake when they drove into 18-inch snow too deep for their four-wheel-drive SUV to handle. They dug out once, but soon became trapped again. They didn’t see another soul all weekend.
The Rhoadses had enough food, water and warm clothes to survive the chilly, isolated weekend unharmed. But they were unable to get a signal on either of their GPS-enabled cell phones for more than two days. Weather changes seem to have eventually allowed a weak signal to 911, where a sheriff’s dispatcher was able to pinpoint their location. A deputy soon towed their vehicle out of the snow.
“GPS nearly did them in, and GPS saved them,” Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger told the…