5 reasons why GPS is a pain in the local driver's side

Year’s ago traffic was light.  In my small community, you could get from point A to point B in a flash.  Traffic lights were minimal and short in duration.  Then, development came and swiftly turned this small community into a traffic nightmare.  And GPS became the largest pain in the local driver’s side. 

Why this venom spewing at innocent old GPS?  I mean, seriously why this hatred? Sure, sometimes navigating Nancy may take you to a stranger’s front door instead of the football stadium you were looking for. And maybe she may tell you to turn the wrong way on a one-way street, but all in all, she’s got her act together.  Then again…when it comes to the local driver here are the top 5 reasons why I have come to really detest Nancy.

1.     She knows where the traffic is worse.  And she will take you on a wild ride just to work around it.  These are the back roads and little detours that local people had up their sleeves when traffic is in a snarl.  Take that advantage away and people who live hundreds of miles from the area can take those same routes, and leave the poor local driver SOL.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with this acronym…it means S*** out of luck.

2.     The non-local people who are taking these alternate routes are unfamiliar with these rocky, bumpy, and sometimes unpaved road snags.  So that chasm in that charming little back road that has been there since last winter envelops the unsuspecting automobile whole.  Thus snarling traffic further.

3.     A big city driver following a GPS detour route may be driving a bit too fast for the curved back roads.  You, however, may be driving the opposite way.  You are sitting in a ditch and calling AAA while they happily ride on oblivious to your plight.

4.     And since so many people are using GPS on their smartphones, the highways that once were just a tad bit congested have reversed the traffic flow to roads with traffic lights.  So what once was a smooth ride becomes a crawl with lines that stretch for miles!

5.     GPS is only as good as the information it receives.  Sometimes it doesn’t get updates so when a road changes from regular to a toll road. Nancy just doesn’t know it.  The drivers that are unfamiliar may not be prepared to fork out a toll. In the greater Washington D.C., area…tolls can be quite frightening!  So unable to pay the fee, they may just blaze through. And then, a mile down the road they sit on the shoulder with blue lights flashing behind them.  How does that affect the other drivers?  Well, rubbernecking is a famous interstate highway sport and has a way causing a backup.  The result is a domino effect in a way with some resulting fender benders.

So there you have it, my five reasons why GPS is a pain in the local driver’s side.  The roaming traveler doesn’t get off Scott free, however.  While they are bopping along that back road they may be unaccustomed to the wildlife.  A deer may put an end to their trip as it bounces off their car’s hood.  Or they may discover that running over a skunk, even a dead one, will infiltrate their car with its delightful scent for months after their meeting.  Until that is, navigating Nancy comes up with a way of circumventing wildlife.