Perhaps that is so.

On the other hand, as Blake said, "Improvement makes straight roads; but the crooked roads without improvement are roads of genius.” Back roads can be rich and rewarding.

So if I may suggest a refinement, it would be this: "Don't take dirt roads unless you know dirt roads. And for God's sake don't blindly follow a GPS 'shortcut' between two points!"

LOL! I grew up in the same grid system. It's solid on the fertile prairies, where all-weather roads are the norm.

But when I get up into the boreal forest regions north or west of here, the place becomes lousy with seasonal logging roads and odd tracks. Easy enough for an outsider to get turned around; especially someone like me who's used to a predictable grid.

The same happens when I get into gnarly, twisty country like British Columbia, where roads follow contours and old wagon tracks. GPS would be darn handy out there -- with all of the potential pitfalls.

From my point of view, distinguishing a maintained, all-weather road from a seasonal track is critical. And, most importantly, the willingness to swallow my pride and turn back when my BS-o-meter starts tingling.

Exactly. There comes a point when it doesn't matter what the GPS indicates, the road under your tires is just wrong. If the road goes single lane and seems to not be maintained, you've gone too far and your BS-o-meter needs to be checked. .

On Pt A to Pt B road-trips when I'm not sight-seeing, I stick to interstates. FWIW

If your trusty GPS steers you onto a dirt road, be sure that you are driving an appropriate vehicle, which generally will not be your typical sedan. It is also important that the driver be familiar with dirt roads and their quirks in the particular area where you are traveling. have a full tank, good spare, and sufficient food and water, etc. for conditions.

Generally, dirt roads are not effective short cuts between major destinations.

Back roads, dirt roads, gravel roads, all-weather roads ... given the geographical spread, it might be worth defining what these actually look like in our local areas as we post, if only to avoid talking at cross purposes. My 2c.

People drive onto train tracks and off cliffs by following their GPS devices.

It's not dirt roads that are the problem.

I wonder how the self-driving car fans plan to minimize those kinds of risks?

The thing to remember is that the typical consumer GPS actually has several components.

First there is the actual GPS itself, which uses satellites to provide an XYZ location. In most cases, this location is accurate to within a few meters. Then there is the location database. This is a compilation of highways, roads, and streets. It also has info about whether the road is two way or one way (with direction), how many lanes, etc. These databases are compiled from a huge variety of sources, and are not always up to date. Finally there is software that connects the GPS to the database.

I think most of the problems come from the database, rather than the GPS itself. As noted, these databases contain info on millions of highways, roads, streets, etc. Even if the data were perfect to begin with (which is never the case), it is constantly changing. New roads are built, streets are blocked off, re-named, or re-routed. No position database is ever likely to be fully up to date.

Also note that you can get into serious trouble following a paper map. The well known Kim tragedy was a result of trying to follow a paper highway map. Paper maps are not always accurate or up to date.

The best way to avoid these situations (whether from GPS or printed maps) is to use common sense. If a road is supposed to be taking you to a more "civilized" place, but the road is getting worse instead of better, maybe that is a sign that you need to stop and re-evaluate?

The way I look at is that a GPS/compass/maps are navigation tools and aides.

I am the navigator and it's my job to filter and maintain the big picture.

Blake

www.outdoorquest.blogspot.com

Next up, the pleasure of a nice chilly 4degC swim in Lake Huron, at the behest of GPS ...

http://globalnews.ca/news/2699376/kitche...s-into-harbour/

[img] https://shawglobalnews.files.wordpress.c...=480&crop=1[/img]

Edit: My image-display-fu is apparently weak. Wise advice appreciated. Thx.

Arguably posessing the most advanced navigation systems in the world and with more redundant backups than any of us will ever have, even the US Navy has gone back to also teaching traditional methods of navigation. This started with the Academy and is now spreading down through different active duty billets as well.

Military.com Article on return of celestial navigation