I read The Walking Dead Vol. 5: The Best Defense, and Rick's poor judgment finally gets him and two group members in a bleak situation.

Rick, Glenn and Michonne leave the prison to rescue the occupants of a helicopter that crashed in the forests near the prison. When they find the helicopter, they're surprised to find several footprints of various sizes around the crash site, leading to the tire tracks of a car.

Rick easily guesses another group of survivors is nearby, but he insists on following the tracks to see if they can find them. but Rick's judgment was poor considering:

• it was dusk when Rick and his group found the empty helicopter; returning to the prison was more important
• the car Rick's group drove to the crash site got stuck in the mud; now returning to the prison is twice as important
• Rick promised the others at the prison they'd return soon; when rick's group went in search of the other survivors, the prison group was left worrying as to what happened
• Michonne correctly surmised that dozens of zombies were following close behind them
• Rick and Glenn were protected by body armor, but they had little in terms of weaponry
• Rick walked into the den of a madman, putting himself, Glenn, Michonne, and the prison group at risk

Does anyone else agree that Rick's judgment in this situation was poor?

 

I understand helping survivors from a helicopter crash, but after seeing those footprints leading to tire tracks, Rick should've returned to the prison. If Rick still wanted to search for where the car went, he could try at a later date.