GPS versus common sense
December 4, 2006
I’m a fan of technology. I love gadgets. I even want a navigation system in my car for those times I’m just dying for an Indian food fix and I’m in an unfamiliar city. However, there’s never been a clearer example of people putting too much trust in an electronic device than GPS navigation systems. Throughout the course of this year, I have read an appalling number of stories in which people throw rational thought to the wind and obey the little voice inside their dash without question. Here are some of my favorites.
Driver follows GPS into sand
A German guy ignored a “sufficient number of warnings and barricades” and piloted his Mercedes straight into a construction site, eventually coming to a stop when his vehicle drove straight into a large pile of sand. “But mein officer, zee computer told me to!”
Sat-nav dunks dozy divers in deep water
Apparently it’s not just construction signs that don’t matter when you’re following the computer’s orders…neither does 4 feet of water. Residents of a small British town have quite a past-time of drying out wayward motorists who drive straight into a ford that becomes rather deep after a decent rain. When asked what happened, the drivers say, “My sat-nav told me it was this way.”
Taken to the edge of a cliff
Drivers looking for a route through Crackpot, England (no, I’m not making that up) seem to think the power of their navigation systems also gives their vehicles legendary off-roading ability. At least one motorist a week gets stuck on the edge of a 100-foot cliff when they follow the computer’s recommendation to leave the main road and start traveling on a rocky trail that would generously be described as a dirt path. The path becomes so narrow against the edge of the cliff that the drivers can proceed no further and are unable to turn around.
The 8-hour, 12-mile trip
Two ambulance drivers (yeah, the ones who are supposed to get you places quickly) in Essex, England were tasked to transport a patient 12 miles to a hospital in the next town. They wound up taking an 8-hour, 200 mile round trip to Manchester because of “a fault in the ambulance’s on-board satellite navigation system.” The patient wasn’t in any danger and was reportedly comfortable throughout the excursion, and a hospital spokesman said that “the problem with the navigation database is also now being fixed.” I personally think the problem with the drivers’ cognitive reasoning abilities should be fixed first.
