Rant: Got stranded on 93 South near Concord because I trusted GPS over actual road signs

So last Tuesday I was driving down from Plymouth to Manchester, doing my usual commute. My phone GPS told me to keep going straight on 93 even though every sign was screaming that the left lane was closed for construction ahead. I figured the GPS knew better, right? Wrong. I ended up stuck in a half mile backup for 20 minutes because the left lane turned into a concrete barrier with no warning. A guy in a pickup next to me rolled down his window and yelled "GPS don't know jack around here, follow the orange barrels!" That was my lesson. Now I always glance at the NH DOT Twitter feed before I head out, and I ignore the GPS if I see cones or signs. Anyone else have a GPS horror story on a New Hampshire highway?

2 comments

2 Comments

jessec395d ago

Ha! Classic case of the robot leading us into a ditch. I once followed GPS into a lake in Vermont - turns out it thought I had a boat.

abby1895d ago

Did your GPS really think you had a boat? I had a similar thing happen a few years back, where the directions took me down a road that was basically a creek bed. It turns out the software thought it was a regular street. I guess these systems are only as smart as the people who program them, and sometimes they miss the obvious stuff like a missing bridge or a sign that says "no through traffic." Makes you wonder how many other people have ended up in odd places just because the map data was old or wrong.