Death by GPS: Why do we follow digital maps into dodgy places? ◇ ~4,700 words

The park rangers at Death Valley National Park in California call it “death by GPS.” It describes what happens when your GPS fails you, not by being wrong, exactly, but often by being too right. It does such a good job of computing the most direct route from Point A to Point B that it takes you down roads which barely exist, or were used at one time and abandoned, or are not suitable for your car, or which require all kinds of local knowledge that would make you aware that making that turn is bad news.

Greg Milner  ※  ARS Technica  ※  arstechnica.com  ※  May 3, 2016