For the most part, GPS technology has been welcomed with open arms as a technology with wide reaching and varied function. However, GPS has its critics. Many complain that GPS instructions aren’t always correct. This is more common on cell phone GPS trackers, which must connect to orbiting satellites using antennas hidden beneath a polymer or metal exterior that isn’t exactly conducive to strong satellite connections.

 

One woman claims that her GPS led her straight to disaster. The female allegedly drove into a golf course sand trap at 45 mph, disrupting operations on the golf course. She blamed her GPS, saying that she was following the instructions her GPS gave her. Police say she was drunk.

 

So, What Happened Was…
According to police, 46 year-old Patricia Maione had a large Burger King cup full of alcohol in her vehicle’s drink holder at the time of the vehicle’s high speed collision with the sand trap. Additionally, police claim she had started off the day by drinking a half a liter of vodka. Her speech was slurred, and she failed field tests administered by police.

 
Maione allegedly claims that, while following her GPS, she drove into a cornfield. Maione then apparently decided that the best course of action was to continue driving through the cornfield until reaching a sudden, unexpected stop.

 

How Not to Drive With Your GPS
The lesson here is two-fold, and extremely obvious. The first is not to drink half a liter of vodka before stepping into an automobile. The second is that your GPS does not drive for you. A GPS is, quite obviously, no excuse for driving while intoxicated.

 

GPS is No Excuse
The incident highlights an important, common complaint with GPS trackers: that they sometimes just aren’t right. The satellite signal may be interrupted for whatever reason; the GPS may have trouble with the signal it is receiving. Cell phone GPS devices are often noticeably weaker than standalone GPS trackers, sometimes causing additional frustration. It should be noted again here that GPS devices are not entirely foolproof, even though technology is greatly increasing the hyper-accuracy of even the smallest devices.

 

Don’t drive drunk. Don’t follow your GPS’s directions into a sand trap on a golf course. It makes the rest of us look bad.