Official News page 8

REAL LIFE NEWS: GPS WOES

by Hazed

Yet more stories about GPS systems that led their owners into peril after they believed the gadgets and ignored the real world around them.

First, we have the horrifying tale of a boy who died in the intense heat of Death Valley National Park after he and his mother became stranded there. Alicia Sanchez had set off with her son and their dog in a Jeep Cherokee on what was supposed to be an overnight camping trip in Death Valley, where temperatures at the time of year reach about 113 during the day. She had no maps, and was relying on a sat-nav to guide her.

At some point she got a flat tire, but she fixed it and continued to drive further into the valley. Somehow, the Jeep got stuck in some sand and that's when things got serious. Cellphone coverage in the valley is, understandably, spotty so she couldn't call for help, and although she had brought some food and water it did not prevent the boy from dying from the heat.

The alarm was raised four days later by family members concerned they hadn't heard from her, so rescuers set out to search. A park ranger found Sanchez by following tire tracks on a dirt road.

You can read more about this sad story here.

And in the UK, a man has been convicted of dangerous driving despite pleading that "the sat-nav made me do it" after he drive his car along a narrow lane, up a very steep path, to the top of a cliff and through a wire fence before realizing that something might be just a bit wrong.

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