You can reset your selection box to the default value and then navigate to the new page. Here's an example of how to do that.

<script>
fix_ipad = function(evt){
    go_to = document.getElementById('go_to');
    go_to.selectedIndex = 0; // reset to default value before leaving current page
};

window.addEventListener("pagehide",fix_ipad,false);

goto_page_and_reset_default = function(){
    go_to = document.getElementById('go_to');
    go_to_page = go_to.value;
    go_to.selectedIndex = 0; // reset to default value before leaving current page

    window.open(go_to_page,"_top");    

}
</script>

<select onchange="goto_page_and_reset_default()" id='go_to'>
    <option value="/item1" selected>Item 1</option>
    <option value="/item2" selected>Item 2</option>
    <option value="/item3" selected>Item 3</option>
</select>