21
The day my GPS took me through a closed road in rural Iowa
Last Tuesday I was driving back from Des Moines and my GPS rerouted me onto this tiny gravel road that clearly had a 'road closed' sign. I figured it was just a suggestion and kept going. Big mistake - the bridge was out about a mile in and I had to reverse through mud for 20 minutes. My truck's tires spun so bad I almost called a tow. Finally got out but it added 45 extra minutes to my trip. Has anyone else had a GPS send you into a nightmare situation like that?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
christopher_wells422d ago
Man, that's rough but honestly I think there's something else going on here that nobody's talking about. @ellis.mia mentioned checking satellite view and that's smart, but before you go down those closed roads you gotta think about whether your GPS even knows about recent weather damage. Around here after big rains, gravel roads can wash out in spots that don't show up on any map until someone reports it. I got stuck in Texas last spring because my GPS said a road was fine but a flash flood had taken out a culvert the night before. So my take is always check local Facebook groups or county road alerts if you're heading into unfamiliar rural territory, especially after storms. That extra mile can save you a whole lot of mud.
9
ellis.mia22d ago
Oh man, that "road closed" sign thing is the worst. I had almost the exact same thing happen in Missouri once. My GPS rerouted me onto a "closed" gravel road and I figured it was just some construction warning that wouldn't matter. Nope. A quarter mile in the road just turned into a dried up creek bed with huge rocks. I had to back up like a mile and my little sedan was scraping bottom the whole way. lol. Since then, I always check Google Maps satellite view if a reroute looks sketchy now. Also, keep a recovery strap in your truck - saved me more than once when other people got stuck. That mud reversing nightmare is no joke, glad you got out without a tow bill.
2