Don't Blindly Depend on a GPS

[JimF]

Just heard form a friend that has an identical 3400RL to ours . We were to meet just outside of Boston yesterday. I finally contacted them last night, he drives a route by what ever the GPS tells him. We had previously had a conversation on that but he was somewhat set in his ways about it. Yesterday in CN he was doing 55 and tried to go under a 11 ft clearance bridge (note the 13'4" height of the 3400rl). Last night he did get it down to 11 ft and a lot of kindling and crap metal.

Always verify your route for construction and clearance before not after you travel it, this is a very steep learning curve.

[HamRad]

Jim,

How awful and what a shock that must have been!

As you point out we should NEVER rely exclusively on GPS..... or anything else as far as that goes. We must remember that driving is an "in the moment" process. Be prepared for ANYTHING.

I hope no one was injured in this terrible accident.

Dennis

[Waynem]

That is one of my worst fears.
Hope everything turns out ok for them.

[eeoski]

How awful!

One of the interesting points that the gentleman who did our PDI with us at Lazy Days made was that he uses his onboard GPS as a SUPPLEMENT to his "Co-Pilot" GPS computer program as it speaks to RV related issues such as overpass heights (the specific issue that he used as an example). We happen to have "co-piolot" from our Class "A" days and planned on getting the updates for it to make it current...think getting the updates has risen in priority on the "To do" list! Of course my role as the human co-pilot will continue to be ready to shout "STOP" when heights are actually "too lows" for the rig when we are on the road.

I presume/hope no one was hurt in the process?

Robin

[capn chris]

Sounds like he was on the Merritt Pkwy in CT?? Yikes.

[stiles watson]

The fear of low clearance is the reason we always check our route in the Motor Carriers Road Atlas in the low clearance section. It is in a listing by state and hwy number.

[Waynem]

I do the same - check the Rand McNally "Motor Carrier's Road Atlas." It has all kinds of good things in it including low clearances.

[MAMalody]

I have the Garmin 650 set on truck. While the double check with the map is a good idea, should that setting normally route around low clearance issues?

[Bill-N-Donna]

I was at a Camping World having some work done on the previous M/H I used to have; when someone pulled in towing a fifth wheel that had just been caught on a bridge. They had tried to pass underneath a bridge only about a half mile from that CW and didn’t make it. It wasn’t a pretty sight. It just crumbled the roof right back and splintered it up pretty bad.

Also concerning the GPS reliability, I was playing around with it one day and it was showing a different route than I would normally go, so I went that way out of curiosity. If I would have followed it I would have driven right into a pond. It had directed me through a new housing development and the roads dead ended in that area. I suspect at one time they may have gone through that area. They just don’t always have the most current up-dates on all of the maps and changes.


Just the other day I tried to find an ATM machine using it. I chose the closest one which indicated it was only about a half mile from me or less but it routed me in a loop that was about 10 miles long. I certainly couldn’t figure that one out. I still like it though especially the low bridge POI I got from one of the forum members.


Edited for spelling:

[Glenn and Lorraine]

From a former truck driver....Always be attentive to your situation. I don't much care who or what gives me a route to some location. I do not rely on any individual or electronic device for road conditions especially when it comes to clearances. Sometimes when traveling down a hiway you were just on a year ago things change. They may have resurfaced that road recently but didn't get to change the clearance markings. If I rip anything off my roof due to a low bridge, a tree limb, whatever it is all on me and no one else.

I do feel sorry for JimF's buddy but when push comes to shove it was 100% the driver's fault. Not the GPS, not the Co-pilot. The DRIVER.

[Bob Pasternak]

After spending 40+ years running the highways with a trac/tlr(s), I've still not gotten out of the habit of "looking up" even though I retired in '93. On my truck I put an antenna on my left mirror that was 2" higher than the trl. I spent a lot of time in Chicago and I went differwent routes most of the time. There are 1438 underpasses in Chi. and not all of them will your pick-up fit under. I did trigger the "overheight" alarms eastbound into the Eisenhower Tunnel one time 'cause my antenna was 13' 8".

[Snownyet]

No different than blindly depending on a paper map! We as drivers of these rigs must be aware of our surroundings, bridge height awareness is a requirement of CDL road testing and should be for RV drivers too. I look for signage on EVERY bridge I approach.