Your GPS Could Be Leading You Into Trouble

Above, on the Million Dollar Highway in Colorado. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Whenever I am on an RV road trip, I take routes that are easily mapped.

I keep a RV road atlas in my motorhome and check routes with it before even leaving the driveway. After doing that, I use the free Google Maps app on my phone. I have never encountered any problems of any major consequence. One gitch was that a friend and I were using Google Maps to go to a restaurant but the directions were goofed up and we ended up circling around a Houston airport parking lot. We never found the restaurant.

There are some people who have encountered major glitch errors with the GPS system they're using. 

That is the topic of an article in RV Travel. 

They begin with:

Most RVers trust their RV GPS navigation. They also have at least one story about it being spectacularly wrong. Maybe it routed you toward a low bridge, down a dead-end road or to the back gate of a campground instead of the office. Chances are you caught the mistake before it became an expensive lesson. Not everyone does.

A recent highway closure involving a commercial truck that apparently followed GPS directions onto an unsuitable route is another reminder that navigation apps are remarkably helpful—but they aren’t perfect. While truck drivers have wrestled with bad GPS routing for years, RVers face many of the same challenges.

To read more, go here. 

Fight RV Crime! Install A GPS Tracker

Above, a KOA Kampground in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Whether it is a motorhome or a towable RV, there are crooks out there who would love to steal it.

RVs are big investments and if yours gets stolen, there's one device that would help getting your rig back: a GPS tracker.

RV Travel has posted an article on stolen RVs and GPS trackers.

They begin it with:

The opening image is just a handful of the stolen RVs we’ve posted here on RVtravel.com in our Saturday newsletter. For every one we write about, there are probably dozens more that we don’t hear about. Suffice it to say, crooks want to steal your RV. The question is, if they do, how can you get it back? One way that can increase the odds of finding a stolen RV is by installing and using a GPS tracker. They’re inexpensive. Service fees are relatively low. And nearly any “RV handyperson” can install one in just a few minutes.

To read more, go here. 

CB Radios Are Essential If There's No Cell Service In Emergencies

Above, a CB radio is essential if there's no cell service in the desert. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A couple on an RV trip got lost in the Nevada desert. Searchers searched for days and finally they were found.

The husband died and his wife is now recovering after being found. 

According to RV Travel:

Earlier this week we wrote about RVers Ronnie and Bev Barker. The Indiana couple went missing, along with their motorhome, on a trip from Oregon to Arizona. As we posted, the couple were lost and stranded in the desert hills of Nevada. Since that initial post, more details have come into focus regarding the Barker’s tragic final trip together. Now it seems the couple’s GPS is taking some of the blame for the tragic outcome.

“SOS”

When searchers found the Barker’s motorhome on Tuesday, April 6, it was abandoned, stuck in the sand on a desert road. The family’s toad car, a Kia, was gone, presumably used by the couple after the motorhome got stuck. Searchers then worked on following the intermittent tracks left on the dusty roadway. After a couple of hours, they heard a car horn. It was signaling out “SOS.” The Barkers were found.

Beverly Barker was sitting in the front seat of the Kia, following some of the last instructions her husband, Ronnie, had given. With their cell phones out of range, he had told her to keep tooting the horn. Three short, three long, three short. Repeat.

While the media is focusing on the GPS, another aspect in the tragedy caught my attention. There was no cell phone service in the area where their motorhome got stuck. Had there been cell phone service in the area, they could both have been saved.

This also leads me to something else. Since there was no cell service, if they had a citizens band (CB) radio in their RV, they could have transmitted a call for help. It has not been reported if they had one or not.

When I bought my motorhome in 2015, one of the first things I bought for it was a handheld CB radio. Even though cell phones are widely used today, there are still areas where there is no coverage. With that in mind, that's why I bought my CB. A CB radio becomes essential in emergencies such as what the Barkers were faced with.

To read the full article, go here.