Massachusetts woman misguided by her GPS - spends several hours stuck on a snowmobile trail

BROWNFIELD — A Massachusetts woman was lucky her cell phone caught a weak single for a minute or two Monday night when her compact car got stuck in a ditch after her GPS led her astray onto a snowmobile trail.

Deputy William Nelson of the Oxford County Sheriff's Office said Lori Corderro, of Medway, Mass., traveled to Maine on Monday afternoon to visit a friend in Lovell. The woman, who is in her mid-50s, was using a global positioning system in her Toyota Yaris to get directions to the residence but kept getting lost. Nelson said that she finally gave up, decided to head home and entered her hometown in the system.

That's when her trouble really started.

"I pulled up and couldn't believe she went in there," Nelson said of the snowmobile trail where he found Corderro later that night. "It goes from a crappy dirt road that is all ice to a snowmobile trail that could probably fit two snowmobiles."

Nelson said that Corderro's GPS took her home through Brownfield, and was likely taking her to Interstate 95 via southern Oxford County at about 5 p.m. However, the system took the unfamiliar driver on Windsor Road, off Potato Hill Road. The road goes a short distance before becoming a snowmobile trail.

Corderro traveled roughly a half-mile down the snowmobile trail before her vehicle got stuck in a ditch, Nelson said. Due to limited, spotty cell phone service in the area, she was not able to get a signal of any kind until about 9 p.m. Her 911 call was routed to Carroll County, N.H. 

When Nelson arrived at the scene, he said his cruiser was only able to go about 150 yards onto the trail before he started to get stuck. He called for help and Fryeburg Rescue came to the scene with an all-terrain vehicle. Corderro was taken to a hotel in New Hampshire, where she stayed for the night, and returned to Potato Hill Road on Tuesday morning.

"If you don't exclude 'dirt road,' then the GPS will pick up the (worst) roads," Nelson said, adding that two similar incidents happened last month. 

Both mishaps involved drivers unfamiliar with the area who were traveling to Sunday River. Typing the location into the GPS system and asking it to calculate the shortest distance leads unknowing travelers onto Patch Mountain Road, a discontinued road used by snowmobiles, Nelson said.

ahannon@sunjournal.com

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Comments

verified

She was from MA so what do

She was from MA so what do you expect !!! 

marooned's picture

She should have taken the

She should have taken the closest pond or lake!  And you Mainers used to be part of Mass????

Pandora's picture

Do people not look at the

Do people not look at the roads when they use GPS? What happened to common sense? 

shall4517's picture

Who in their right mind would

Who in their right mind would do this? I agree with KNSaisi if the road isn't paved and plowed dont continue.

Bilgerat's picture

This is where you read the

This is where you read the directions prior to using technology that you are unfamiliar with.  That way you are not helping to tax an already overtaxed state.  Especially if you're from a lower taxed state like Mass.

smedley's picture

Sounds like a Toyata recall

Sounds like a Toyata recall for the GPS lol

MJF's picture
verified

Got to love technology.

Got to love technology.

Ernest's picture
verified

I was in Walmart the other

I was in Walmart the other day and they had can's of common sense on sale.

randi420's picture

Corderro traveled roughly a

Corderro traveled roughly a half-mile down the snowmobile trail before her vehicle got stuck in a ditch, Nelson said. Due to limited, spotty cell phone service in the area, she was not able to get a signal of any kind until about 9 p.m. Her 911 call was routed to Carroll County, N.H.

( Xbox 360 Repair Guide | Magic of Making Up | Truth About Abs )

KNSaisi's picture
verified

This is where you shun

This is where you shun technology and use common sense. If the road isn't paved and plowed, then don't continue.

randi420's picture

Nelson said that Corderro's

Nelson said that Corderro's GPS took her home through Brownfield, and was likely taking her to Interstate 95 via southern Oxford County at about 5 p.m. However, the system took the unfamiliar driver on Windsor Road, off Potato Hill Road. The road goes a short distance before becoming a snowmobile trail.

( Fat Burning Furnace | Every Other Day Diet | Cheat Your Way Thin Review )

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