The present invention provides a system, a method and a computer usable medium including a program for a vehicle that has traveled off of a planned route. This may be done by providing a plurality of nodes located on road segments, generating a plurality of pre-established checkpoints at intersections and receiving a signal including a location coordinate identifying current vehicle position. It may also be done by comparing the vehicle coordinates to the coordinates of checkpoints, constructing a proximity ellipse in response to the aforementioned comparison and identifying at least one return path cycle within the ellipse with acceptable road segments that allow travel back to a planned route.