Almost Flipped our New Motorhome!!!!

[mrt_1111]

I was concerned about the routing that my GPS was taking me today (which was only the second day of driving it) when we started.

Always trust your gut.

To begin with it had be take a 45 degree turn that I am sure the people behind me was cussing me out.

Let them. You can't hear them

It then put me on a narrow county road with no shoulder plus a drop off and ditch. I road the center line, but for some reason I got off the road. I adjusted to get back on the road to keep from sliding in the ditch.

Have the device that operates the steering wheel, brake and gas pedal adjusted.

This slung me toward the other side. We both thought it was going to flip. I was able to slow it down and straighten it out. I then looked in the camera to see if the car was still there and it was following along like it should have been.

I am glad you survived.

[biker art]

Will never buy a gps,don't like the distraction of using them while driving and don't trust them. I use a map and that way I know just where I'm going before I even leave the house. I rely on my 60 or so experiance driving and It rarely has failed me.

[jpharley]

We never blindly follow the GPS. We always map our route on paper first because that is the route we want to go. We input the address and if there is a disagreement with directions, the GPS will be ignored every time and we use our paper directions. We also have a paper atlas in the truck. The GPS will eventually catch up with our route. To me, the best value of a GPS is lane selection when exiting.

[johnhicks]

We never just follow the gps-suggested route. I plan using Basecamp, with lots of shaping points, then check with another topo map installed into Basecamp, then use Google Earth to check anything interesting, then if needed ask right here. Lastly I transfer it to the device.

This is effectively the same (or better) as using a paper map; the gps simply follows the route I planned and if there's something wrong with the route it's the fault of the planner.

A side note; fairly often Garmin ignores those short connectors between travel lanes and wants to go way down the road to make a u-turn. Although they're on the map they're not recognized as driveable.

[rarebear.nm]

When I have the steering wheel in hand I'm in-charge not a GPS. I always start out route planning with a paper map for the big picture. Then review that route in Google maps for small details. When in strange cities my wife will watch a GPS for cross checks. I will not even look at a GPS while driving. Recently in Texas the GPS had us routed through narrow downtown streets instead of taking the truck bypass.

[Big Dude]

Glad you survived okay. I never ever ever allow a GPS to route me but only use it to tell me a turn is upcoming on the route that I have selected.

[hoosierrun]

We have a Garmin GPS designed for truck drivers. It helps a bit more than the old standard GPS's, but in no way can be trusted 100%. At least a couple of times we got onto a closed road and had to un-connect the toad to get turned around. GPS's help a lot, but are far from perfect.

Funny story... we were in Texas where many of the roads are pre-fixed with FM. We were coming north on the Interstate from San Antonio and had programmed a turn toward Canyonlands. As we approached the exit, the Garmin said " In 1 mile exit right on Federated States of Micronesia 130". My wife busted out laughing and a few seconds later, it dawned on me what the Garmin just said. FM is the Country abbreviation for Federated States of Micronesia.

[VoiceNinja]

Happy to hear you pulled out before things went really far South!

On our way into Grand Marais, MI, in our 40' DP today, I had the GPS running to my 9 year old could follow along. We live about 60 miles away and I drive the route on H58 from Munising all the time. The GPS kept telling me to take EVERY two track that would shift is over to M-117...which would have been a complete disaster!

Grand Marais was straight ahead on the paved and we'll maintained H58 that we were on. Thanks GPS. I'll keep using you for situational awareness, but not for directions!

[Isaac-1]

Originally Posted by hoosierrun

...
Funny story... we were in Texas where many of the roads are pre-fixed with FM. We were coming north on the Interstate from San Antonio and had programmed a turn toward Canyonlands. As we approached the exit, the Garmin said " In 1 mile exit right on Federated States of Micronesia 130". My wife busted out laughing and a few seconds later, it dawned on me what the Garmin just said. FM is the Country abbreviation for Federated States of Micronesia.

The sad thing is Garmin GPS's did that for about a decade before they fixed the issue.

[Wundertaker]

Originally Posted by biker art

Will never buy a gps,don't like the distraction of using them while driving and don't trust them. I use a map and that way I know just where I'm going before I even leave the house. I rely on my 60 or so experiance driving and It rarely has failed me.

If you want to have some fun sometime, hand a map to one of your teenage grandchildren and have them get you from point A to point B by only using the map!

[daveandcarol]

Had to get an electrical component repaired. Trip to the shop, back to campground, trip to pick up repaired component, back to campground.

Four trips - four different routes by GPS.

At lest twice now GPS has proudly announced 'destination on the right' when it was actually on the 'other right' (left)... still does a pretty good overall.

[OLYLEN]

Sometimes the operators of equipment must read the manual to learn what ALL the options do. Of course I an educated man and don't need to. The GPS are getting better and better, some are even routing do to traffic conditions, if YOU let it or instruct it to do so. Totally trust a GPS "never". A ways check the routing and read signs. Think about the millions of pieces of data that are put together for a route, no it's not a simple blue or red line and then compute your 40' x 12' x9' block moving on that data stream. Common sense must be interjected into the operation. As to maps, man I would have a pile of paper with all the places we visit on a trip. All in all I use the GPS daily bug never totally trust it.

LEN

[Boomertx]

Going along with the Texas FM story above, a quick routing note for those visiting Texas, if your GPS EVER routes you onto anything prefixed by "CR" (County Road) do NOT follow it! Many if not most CRs in Texas are nothing more than improved dirt or gravel.

As a side note, if you aren't in a massive hurry, Texas FM roads can be very pleasant drives, usually shoulder less but well maintained and smooth because the Trucking traffic don't use them. Also, roadside picnic areas are usually plentiful and nice spots to stretch your legs.

Finally, having used GPSs for many years for both road and air navigation it is important to really go over your unit from the comfort of your living room or driveway and check all the defaults. For example, never select the "shortest" route over the "fastest" unless you really enjoy driving on city streets. DAHIK

[monkey]

As far as running off the road,,, easy to say but hard to practice,,, worse thing you can do is hit the brakes.... I have saved a couple of large truck roll overs in my 37+ years by mashing the gas, and steering into the slide.... More times than not, its better to "pull out" of a bad place than try to brake ..... And yes, we don't trust GPS, we do use it as a back up... "The nice lady in the dash" ... DW calls her something else....