Since becoming available to the public in 1993, the now popular GPS navigation devices have made travel simpler, and safer. User-friendly features such as touch screen controls and automated voice systems for providing directions on the road are now available in modern devices and gadgets. Drivers can now avoid the traffic and take the best alternative route to their destination, without major distractions. With credit card comparison services and other high-tech gadgets popping out these days, it might be hard to keep up with all the new updates. However, the simplicity and safety these devices bring into daily navigation is deceitful. The GPS device provides directions based only on the data it is provided, so the directions can be inaccurate if the data is outdated. Also, a GPS device can prove to be harmful to the driver as it cannot detect the weather climates of the seasons.

According to the Canadian press, a medical student was recently stranded in her car for three days in a remote area of northern New Brunswick Canada. The culprit responsible for her dilemma was her GPS device. The device blindly led Stephanie Parent, 22, of Sherbrooke, Quebec, done a seasonally impassable logging road into the snow where Stephanie became stranded. Although she had enough food to last several weeks, the cold nighttime temperatures could have been fatal to the young medical student.

“I survived by thinking what I could do to get out of there and why I wanted out of there which is that I wanted to see my father and mom and my brother.” Stephanie was stranded for three days before she was discovered by three snowmobilers about 90 km from Bathhurst, New Brunswick. During a news conference arrest her rescuers said “The poor thing, she was crying when she saw us coming”

Stephanie left her home in the Eastern Townships on Sunday afternoon, headed for her medical residency at Chaleur Regional Hospital in Bathurst, New Brunswick. She made it as far as the Bathurst city limits before her ignorant GPS device guided her onto a seasonally impassable logging road. She ended up in the middle of nowhere, stuck in the snow in an area without cell phone service. For most motorists this situation would have created immediate panic. However Stephanie’s mother had sent some emergency supplies along with her the ride. In the car she had a cooler packed with food, water and soft drinks along with a blanket and pillows, so Stephanie chose to look on the bright side. Apart from the frigid temperatures she reasoned that she had enough emergency supplies to last for weeks. Nonetheless with the mercury dipping below 30C on her third evening, Stephanie’s rescue probably saved her life.

As demonstrated by Stephanie, regular updates are required for GPS devices despite the fact that such dreadful experiences occur once in a while. The lesson you can take away from this is that you should be well informed of your travel plan and not depend entirely on a GPS device. During another season the logging road would likely have provided trouble-free passage. But without the ability to make seasonal adjustments to its recommendations, the GPS became an unwitting accomplice to Stephanie’s near death exposure to the Canadian cold.

Drive responsibly and have a clean driving record to save money on car insurance. You should take a couple of minutes to surf the web for affordable Alberta auto insurance to compare various quotes offered by different insurance companies.

Technorati Tags: automobile, Car Insurance, disadvantages of gps, faulty gps gadgets, flaws of gps, gps technology, gps update, Technology