Taken To Disaster By Errant GPS Advice

ralphrepo · May 9, 2013

Have you ever followed GPS only to find yourself in dire straits because of its less than stellar advice? Don't feel bad, the following story details some harrowing events because of GPS malfunctions:

8 drivers who blindly followed their GPS into disaster
By Lauren Hansen | The Week – Tue, May 7, 2013

Take note: The machine does not always know where it's going

"The machine knows where it's going!" yells Michael Scott in an episode of The Office, before driving his car directly into a lake. If his blind dedication to GPS rings a little too true, fear not, dear driver, you are not alone. Next time the mechanical voice tells you to hang a right where none exists, trust your own two eyes instead of making these mistakes:

1. Turn into the park In early May, a driver on the Upper West Side of Manhattan was trying to make his way to New Jersey. But somewhere around 88th Street, the GPS he was following led him astray. The driver turned west, but instead turning onto a street, his sedan headed down the first few stairs of an entrance to Riverside Park. The car — and the driver — were stuck on the stairs until a tow truck could erase the evidence of a very public wrong turn.

2. Drive into the bay Three Japanese tourists in Australia used their GPS to plan a drive to North Stradbroke Island, just off the coast of the eastern city of Brisbane. But what the machine didn't account for was the nine miles of water dividing the island from the mainland. The road turned to gravel, then to thick mud, then to gentle laps of water against the tires. The three were forced to abandon the vehicle and return on foot. Passengers aboard a passing ferry — the recommended way to get to the island — reportedly watched the whole embarrassing event unfold. A tow truck gave the poor tourists a ride back, and the car, not being worth the repair, was sent to the dump.

3. Continue on and on and on All Sabine Moreau wanted to do was pick up a friend from the train station, which was north of her home in Hainault Erquelinees, Brussels. But when the GPS directions took her south instead of north, the 67-year-old woman didn't question it. She stuck by her GPS when she saw the signs for the German towns of Frankfurt, Aachen, and Cologne. And when the lengthy trip forced her to refuel twice, and pull over to catch a few hours of shut-eye — Moreau didn't question the machine even then. Only when she entered the Croatian capital of Zagreb did she finally realize something was up. Her friend at the train station and her son had also caught on, and her son called the police. When Moreau finally returned home, all she said by way of explanation was, "I admit it's a little weird, but I was distracted."

4. Turn onto a cliff's edge In 2009, Robert Jones' reliance on his satellite navigation system nearly got the best of him when he was driving in West Yorkshire, England. The "road" began to steepen and narrow, but still he plugged on. "It kept insisting the path was a road," he later explained, "so I just trusted it." Jones only realized how wrong he was when his car bumped up against a thin wire fence just inches from a 100-foot drop. He managed to get out safely, but the car remained balanced on the edge. It took a recovery team nine hours to haul the car away, and Jones was given a court citation for driving without care and attention.

5. Make a U-turn into a lake In 2011, three women visiting Bellevue, Wash., were out after midnight, unable to find their way back to their hotel. After asking the GPS to re-route, they took what they thought was a road that would lead them to the highway. Instead, their SUV ended up sinking into deep water. The "road" turned out to be a boat launch, and the water a lake. All three managed to get out safely, but by the time the tow truck arrived, the SUV was completely submerged. "We've seen sitcom parodies of something like this and to actually see it is surprising," said a local fireman.

6. Keep going straight into a house Early one foggy Saturday morning in 2011, a father was driving his wife and two kids through South Brunswick, N.J. At a T intersection, where the only options were left and right, this driver opted instead to follow his GPS guidance and go straight. He missed the initial stop sign, ran over the lip of the curb, and continued for another 100 feet before hitting a house. Unfortunately, two passengers who were not wearing seat belts were hurt and taken to the hospital. "This stuff really happens," a police spokesman remarked.

7. Get stuck in a cherry tree In 2007, a 37-year-old German truck driver had his GPS guide him to a Swiss factory where he was to deliver his cargo. But instead of heeding the "no-entry" warning signs that should have deterred him, the driver followed the sound of the female voice until the truck ended up wedged in the cradle of a cherry tree. The truck was stuck fast, and the driver couldn't reverse. Local officials eventually had to chop down branches of the tree to get the truck out.

8. Veer into a sand pit GPS often can't account for changes, like construction. But that's why drivers have eyes and, ideally, wits. Unfortunately, one or the other was missing from a German couple driving around Hamburg one night in 2006. The 80-year-old driver was so dedicated to his navigation's know-how that he ignored a highway's initial "closed for construction" sign, as well as several successive barricades, until he plowed right into a sand pit. Luckily, the motorists escaped uninjured, though their egos were likely bruised.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/8-drivers-blindly-followed-gps-disaster-213900496.html
Click to expand...

But to be honest, a lot of the above, IMHO, goes to the issue of operator error; some people are just incapable of recognizing when something is wrong, and contrary to good sense, persist in doing something that is not in their best interests. Further, how many people actually update their GPS device? I do, but I suspect that many others don't.

H! · May 10, 2013

2. Drive into the bay Three Japanese tourists in Australia used their GPS to plan a drive to North Stradbroke Island, just off the coast of the eastern city of Brisbane. But what the machine didn't account for was the nine miles of water dividing the island from the mainland. The road turned to gravel, then to thick mud, then to gentle laps of water against the tires. The three were forced to abandon the vehicle and return on foot. Passengers aboard a passing ferry — the recommended way to get to the island — reportedly watched the whole embarrassing event unfold. A tow truck gave the poor tourists a ride back, and the car, not being worth the repair, was sent to the dump.

Buahaha, when this was on the news here... first thought was "WTF?!" They actually drove into the ocean......... natural selection at its best i say

ralphrepo · May 10, 2013

Of course, this immediately calls to mind from last year, the warning given by Australian police in regards to Apple's well known problems with its iPhone GPS maps.

In A Hurry? Just Read The RED HIGHLIGHTED LINES For A Quick Synopsis

Apple Maps flaw could be deadly, warn Australian police
By Nick Thompson, CNN
updated 11:44 AM EST, Mon December 10, 2012

Apple Maps lists the Australian city of Mildura (purple pin) as being 70 kilometers away, in the middle of a national park (red pin).

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Apple Maps places city of Mildura in national park, 70 kilometers from actual location

Some motorists trying to reach Mildura have had to be rescued from park by cops

Police: Some motorists stranded in park for up to 24 hours without food or water

Apple's map app widely criticized since release; firm's CEO has apologized for app

(CNN) -- Inaccurate, inconvenient, ill-conceived ... now add "potentially life-threatening" to the list of words being used to describe flaws in Apple's much maligned maps app. Police in Mildura, Australia are warning drivers to be careful about using Apple Maps to find the city, which the app has placed more than 40 miles (70 kilometers) away in the Outback. Calling it a "potentially life-threatening issue," police say the mapping system lists Mildura, a city of 30,000 people, as being in the middle of Murray-Sunset National Park. Several motorists have had to be rescued by police from the park, which police say has no water supply and where temperatures can reach a blistering 46 degrees Celsius (114 Fahrenheit). "Some of the motorists located by police have been stranded for up to 24 hours without food or water and have walked long distances through dangerous terrain to get phone reception," Mildura police said in a statement.

"Police have contacted Apple in relation to the issue and hope the matter is rectified promptly to ensure the safety of motorists travelling to Mildura. Anyone travelling to Mildura or other locations within Victoria should rely on other forms of mapping until this matter is rectified." Apple spokesman Adam Howorth would not comment on the Australian police allegations, but told CNN that Apple is "working hard to fix Maps." Rival systems to Apple's, including Google Maps, listed Mildura in the correct location, northeast of Murray-Sunset National Park. Apple Maps, which replaced the Google Maps app on Apple mobile devices when the tech giant released its iOS 6 platform in September, has been widely panned by critics and users alike.

Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized for Maps shortly after its release. In a September letter posted on Apple's website, Cook wrote: "We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better."Senior executive Scott Forstall -- who oversaw the tech giant's mobile software unit before leaving the company in October -- was reported by the Wall Street Journal to have been forced out of Apple after refusing to apologize for Maps. Apple told CNN it doesn't comment on "rumors or speculation."

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/10/tech/apple-maps-australia-flaw

Taken To Disaster By Errant GPS Advice

ralphrepo Well-Known Member

H! o_0"

ralphrepo Well-Known Member