Trust Me, I'm Your GPS....

[Joe Guy]

Sometimes you gotta think for yourself...

A Tahoe man followed his car's GPS. It got him stuck for a week in the snow.

Harlan Earl of Tahoe left for Truckee on Jan. 24 after visiting friends in Grass Valley. According to the Sierra County Sheriff's Office, Earl soon found that Interstate 80 was closed due to snow, so he used his car's GPS to find him a new route. The GPS instructed him to drive off Highway 49 and use Henness Pass Road into the Sierras, a route he was unfamiliar with.

"This area of Sierra County is mountainous and gets heavy snowfall during the winter," the sheriff's office said in a statement. "Henness Pass Road is only open during the summer months and is not plowed. While traveling up the road, he became stuck and could not turn around."

Earl had a camper, propane and cold-weather clothing with him, which turned out to be potentially lifesaving as the season's heaviest snowstorm began to descend around him.

On Jan. 30, Earl was officially reported missing to police, who launched a search in conjunction with Earl's family. They didn't have to search long: The next day, 911 dispatch at the Nevada County Sheriff's Office received a call from the missing man. The call dropped before the man could give more detail, but police were able to find his approximate location through his cell signal.

A CHP helicopter spotted Earl near Henness Pass Road, an area totally snowed in and unaccessible by vehicle. The helicopter landed and was met by a grateful Earl, who told them he'd managed to hike up to a spot with just enough cell service to make a 911 call. Nevada County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kress told FOX40 that Earl used two snowboards strapped to his feet to create makeshift snow shoes.

"He was very, very fortunate to have the experience and the equipment to survive out that time frame," Kress told FOX40. "Your normal person who did the same thing in their vehicle and got snowed in right before this storm, I think it’d be very rare for them to be able to as well for that length of time."

Earl was found to be in good health and did not need medical treatment.

"As a reminder, do not always trust your GPS driving directions," the Sierra County Sheriff's Office cautioned, "particularly in the winter months."

source

[Long Run]

He couldn't go over Donner Pass, irony ensued.

[rubato]

I hope he had a large family.

yrs,
rubato

[Joe Guy]

I hope he had a large family.

We know he had enough family to keep him fed for a week.

[Bicycle Bill]

If you are willing to trust about five dollars worth of electronics hooked up to a database to tell you where to go without some sort of a back-up plan, you deserve whatever you get.

-"BB"-

[Big RR]

What back up plan would you suggest? The primary route (Route 80) was closed and he could either stay there stopped or seek an alternative route. The last time I skied in Tahoe, the Route 80 pass was closed due to an avalanche, and I had to use the GPS for an alternative route. It was kind of tough going, but we made it to Reno and caught our plane (I gave a lot of extra time and it was during daylight hours, but I could see how someone could get in trouble. The funny thing is that he appeared to be a local; I drove to Truckee once, and I never would attempt it in a snowstorm--I would think a local would know better.

[Scooter]

I would think that common sense would tell you that if an interstate has been shutdown because of snow, then any alternative routes on secondary roads would at the very least be dangerous to attempt, and very likely impassable as well.

[Big RR]

Sure, it depends what he knew (It could have easily been an avalanche and not the accumulating snow). But then he was in a camper with supplies to survive for an extended period of time, so maybe he chose to chance it and made a bad choice. In my younger days I can recall driving through blizzards to Vermont to get the good snow, but those mountains are very different from the Sierras--I don't ever recall hearing of people snowbound for the season there.

[BoSoxGal]

It’s only in the last decade or so that there was a huge story about a family that did the same thing. I think the husband died trying to go for help?


Yeah I can’t see that there is any common sense engaged in the decision to divert from an interstate shut down by a raging snowstorm onto a road in the mountains called a ‘pass’.

I mean, really. The guy is lucky he did have provisions and it was all a happy ending, because far too often search and rescue people risk harm or death to save people like this.

Park the damn camper for 12 hours until the roads are open.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Yeah, not the fault of the GPS. Guess it didn't have an "Are you dumb or what, asshat?" setting.

[Big RR]

That being said, the biggest drawback with GPS systems is that they are not updated for road closings; as it said above, the rod he was on is routinely closed for the winter; there should be a way they can update their databases to reflect long term closures.

As for the interstate closure, I don't know what happens in California, but in NY/NJ the police will usually try to foce people off the interstate at the nearest exit (I presume for efficient plowing), so I'm not sure what his options were.

[eddieq]

So the example in this story is extreme, but in my role with the fire company, I've set up road closures and detours only to find out later that a section of the detour had an issue (like a tree down during a storm). Sometimes, there really is no way around.

During a particularly heavy rain weather event with an enormous amount of localized flooding, I was out with a road closed while the company performed a water rescue. The cross streets had flooding on them as well. Someone pulled up to me and I told them they couldn't go through and advised them to go back the way they came. They said it was also flooding and were afraid of going that way. They then asked, "How do you suggest I get to xxx". I told them, "Leave two days ago, no place to put you." They were slightly amused by my answer as I shrugged and they turned around. I didn't see the car again and we didn't get summoned to a rescue down there (although the way they went was across the county line, so a neighboring fire company would have gotten that call).

[Crackpot]

And this is just one of the remaining hurdles of “driverless cars”

[Guinevere]

The Boston version is getting “Storrowed” (people don’t typically get stuck on the roads for days here, not since’78). Mostly happens with students and moving trucks, but absolutely happens with others who have been around a while and should know better. Boston officials have worked with GPS providers to include warnings, but not everyone pays attention.

[ex-khobar Andy]

It’s only in the last decade or so that there was a huge story about a family that did the same thing. I think the husband died trying to go for help?

James Kim; Oregon 2006.

I was stuck in my car on the I95 outside Buffalo for 17 hours in 2005 or so. I was heading home and stopped for gas and cigarettes when I started to see a few snowflakes. Lake effect snow can be unpredictable. Three miles from home and really less than 12 inches of snow, traffic stopped. There was a long line of us - probably 500 plus vehicles. Luckily I had gas so I could idle the engine and run the heater for 15 minutes every hour or so. By the end of the night I had three total strangers in my car who could see that I still had heat and ciggies. It wasn't bone chillingly cold and the radio stations stayed on all night taking calls and keeping us informed. In the morning a trucker who was carrying food walked around with a box offering what he could: he had a truckful of celery and ice cream. I don't think he got many takers for the ice cream. When they finally got us out the next morning (11AM) we found that the snow had hit a very narrow band centered on the Thruway and my house was clear of snow.

[Long Run]

Poor Kim. At every point he made the most disastrous decision possible. Glad your story ended up with a happier ending, EKA.