My wife does this CONSTANTLY and it drives me crazy!

Headed to a local amusement park today and she wanted to drive so I let her and she’s already done it 2 times.

I really don’t get it, aren’t they always calibrating for you the quickest route? To avoid traffic? Then she gets angry when we run into traffic because she second-guessed it.

I think she learned it from her father who also does this all the time, last year he barely made it to Lorton, VA like an hour after us getting to the Amtrak Auto Train because he started second guessing his GPS.

Anyone else have a spouse that does that? Hopefully we don’t end up in a lake ala Michael Scott coming home LOL

I don't know about 'quickest routing'. My sense is they draw a straight line from point A to point B and then give you a route trying to keep as close to that line as possible. It will have you zig-zagging through residential neighborhoods rather than taking the express route around them.

I don’t second guess it enough. On Wednesday, it said turn right at the stop sign, which didn’t seem correct as that seemed to be the wrong direction. It was.

Added to the issue is that the routing software is now taking fuel economy into account when suggesting routes.

As far as my wife goes, we could be driving into the sunset and she’ll say “I feel like west is that way." while pointing northeast.

I think they are paid to route you by whoever is paying them (amusement parks? businesses?) and crap
when I was in Panama City, Fl working I'm pretty sure it didn't take me the shortest or the quickest way, it took me by the waterpark, though

Every few winters our local deputy sheriffs encounter someone who’s trying to get to Aspen over Independence pass because their GPS told them that was the way. The pass is closed in the winter. One time a passenger car was stuck in a snowbank because the driver was convinced that the GPS had to have been correct when it told him to go over another pass that was also closed for the season.

When trying to get around Denver from one side to the other, I’ve had my GPS tell me to take all the clogged, traffic light-infested roads rather than the Interstate bypass.

I never use a GPS. I just look at the TDOT traffic indicators on the map.. If I am going to a place I have not been before I will use the GPS map & check the alternate routes, put the map in my head and go.

Two rules when my mother is in the car with me:

1. Absolutely NO directions given unless specifically requested.
2. No politics.

I constantly second guess GPS. Several times I realized that we were going the wrong way because the GPS re-routed us onto the wrong road. It mostly works just fine, but every now and then it doesn't.

Whoa whoa whoa whoa...wait a minute.

YOU LET HER DRIVE!?!?

And absolutely one should always 2nd guess the GPS. I wish my wife would more. Most times it'll get you where you need to go the fastest and most efficient way, but inevitably, it will fuck you, and it'll fuck you royally, if you become solely dependent on it.

quote:

I really don’t get it, aren’t they always calibrating for you the quickest route?

Not necessarily. There have been a number of cases where it directed people off on remote bad roads, trucks to roads with low-hanging overpasses, etc. One one route I drive fairly often, there is a dirt road leading into a cement plant or a quarry. It has a sign on it that says not to turn off ther, the GPS is wrong, and directs you to the paved road a few hundred yards further down.

I am more guilty of that than my wife, as I outright refuse to use GPS navigation. I still like my paper atlas, although I will sometimes refer to Google maps only to examine all the possible route options and sometimes current traffic conditions. Then I select my own route.

I use GPS but I tend to check the routing first before accepting it.Dummy check so to speak.

A couple weeks ago I was interviewing for a couple thousand dollar drainage work/drains/sump/pump around my house. One of the companies was a brother team. They texted me and said they were 10 minutes out. I said ok, I am here. They then texted that they were right outside my house. I go outside, walk around the corner lot, no brothers.

You know the drill. They put in the wrong address, totally different town 5 exits down I-95. He says to me, "I thought it was weird it was taking me to New Smyrna Beach but you said you lived in Ormond Beach".

They almost lost the job right there. lol. I am glad I gave them a second chance because I hired them and they did a very conscientious job. I did give them the DAD lecture about GPS though. They took it well.

A couple of years ago, The Lovely Girlfriend's daughter was a newly-minted independent driver. One particular weekend she had an early Saturday appointment "over in town."

TLG said repeatedly, "make sure you know where you're going; look at a map."

Response? "It's okay, Mom, I'm fine. I've got GPS."

Saturday morning, TLG got the phone call. "Mom? I'm stuck. I followed directions, but I'm not in the right place."

Sure enough, the GPS (Waze, I think) had led her to roughly 100 yards from where she needed to be. What spooked her was that it led her to the edge of a cemetery!

If I go, I drive. Problem solved.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:

What spooked her was that it led her to the edge of a cemetery!

I think I saw that horror film.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
I think I saw that horror film.

I think TLG's daughter thought she was about to be in a horror film!

Never disengage your brain in favor of a robot. GPS tried to send me down a SIDEWALK a coupla months ago. And I mean, a SIDEWALK. There was never a road there, and this would have gotten me arrested had I just brainlessly accepted the 'orders' from the magic box in the dash. . .

I use GPS as a guide, and I ALWAYS have veto authority.

^^^ 100% agree.

My wife would see GPS and say, no go this other way because she knows it's faster (I was fairly new to the area that she knows well).

The problem is then she would get distracted on her phone and I would miss turns because GPS hadn't caught up yet. It happened enough that I just don't listen to her when she tells me to go a different way.

I second guessed the GPS one time. It was taking me around town on a part of the directions I already knew. I should have listened because the direct route was completely closed.

Apple Maps has been completely reliable.