Use Your GPS Navigation System To Get Around- But Use Common Sense
GPS navigation is a great technology that is taking the consumer world by storm. It seems like everyone is using the powerful ability of GPS navigation to get to where they want to go faster, easier and without having the hassle of stopping to ask for directions. Like every tool we use to make our lives easier, however, using GPS navigation requires also applying your common sense.
The news recently has carried a story of a woman who was hit by a car while walking along a highway without sidewalks and is suing Google Maps for being negligent in their technology for leading her to an unsafe walkway. While Google Maps as well as GPS navigation technology can provide people with options and alternatives to get from point A to point B, it seems a little presumptuous to think they should be held responsible for making a decision to walk along a busy highway without realizing you are taking a major risk of being hit by a car.
GPS navigation will always be subject to change in circumstance or lack of information. Although the satellites that provide data to GPS receivers is highly accurate, there is no way to compensate for last minute changes, inaccurate readings or new data that is not properly notated. A GPS navigation system cannot be expected to accommodate unusually high traffic for example or a weather associated hazard such as a freshly-fallen tree. Car accidents can create traffic hazards, road hazards and other unexpected circumstances that may not be made known by a GPS navigation receiver. These situations require using the common sense we all possess to discern the reliability and safety of the proposed directional information that technology provides.
GPS navigation, as well as software like Google Maps and others, are intended to be tools to help plan your route. They are computerized technology, which means that the information that comes out is dependent on the information that is put in. If the incoming data contains errors or lacks all the details, the resulting output cannot help but reflect that. These tools are a great way to HELP us make decisions and potentially save time, but they are subject to both error and malfunction.
Whether the pedestrian struck down while walking along a highway without sidewalks has a legal claim against Google Maps is a decision that will be made by a court of law, it seems, but you can get the safest, most accurate information from your GPS navigation device by filtering the data you receive through the common sense and intelligence you use throughout the rest of your daily life. GPS navigation uses science and electronic technology- it was never intended to replace a human brain.
