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On "The Office," a GPS system directed Michael into a lake...
In Bedford Hills, NY, a GPS system directed a driver onto railroad tracks, prompting a fiery crash. After the man got stuck on the tracks, "he tried to stop the train by waving his arms, which apparently was not totally effective in slowing the train," says a Metro-North train spokesman. (LoHud.com)
> Watch "The Office" segment where Michael trusts his GPS too much
January 4, 2008 | Permalink
Comments
I smell a lawsuit.
"Yes you're honor. When I use the GPS my brain goes into hibernate mode."
Posted by: G-Man | Jan 4, 2008 6:05:59 AM
I dont know about anyone else, but I'm not going to blindly follow the instructions of my GPS system. You must be smarter than the car. This is worrisome if one day we're hoping for cars to basically drive themselves to our destinations.
Posted by: Cherie | Jan 4, 2008 6:07:24 AM
This reminds me of concerns some long time skydivers have about the widgets in parachutes that automatically pull the reserve chute if you get to a certain altitude and haven't pulled your cord. On one hand the theory is sound and saves lives. On the other hand, it makes some skydivers feel invincible and can *cause* deaths and accidents.
People need to learn their craft (driving, diving, whatever) first - thoroughly, completely, safely. Use the backup systems and such as *back up*.
Posted by: LooseyGoosey | Jan 4, 2008 6:14:06 AM
I was just recently in the car with a friend who has a GPS and was paying far more attention to the map on the screen than what was actually in front of him on the road. In addition to several near collisions, we got ridiculously lost. Most of the stories I hear about them are very positive, but people definitely put too much faith in 'em and not enough in common sense driving.
Posted by: elchampino | Jan 4, 2008 6:14:20 AM
I love my GPS. It has helped me find many places when I had no idea where I was going. But once you get to know the location sometimes you realize that you can find a better route because you know all the lights and traffic conditions better. Plus if the maps are outdated it won't even know some roads exist.
I do expect in my lifetime that cars will drive themselves and while I think people will at first be wary of accepting it in the end it will virtually eliminate accidents.
Posted by: G-Man | Jan 4, 2008 6:20:48 AM
I miss The Office
Posted by: | Jan 4, 2008 6:21:13 AM
"he tried to stop the train by waving his arms, which apparently was not totally effective in slowing the train,"
LOL! Flap harder, you fool!
Posted by: sometimesilie | Jan 4, 2008 6:28:49 AM
LOL! Silie
Posted by: Nicole | Jan 4, 2008 6:51:28 AM
I hate driving. Come to that I've spent so much time on different modes of transportation in the last 15 years that I just plain hate anything except walking.
Although I must admit the ICE (InterCityExpress) in Germany is pretty zippy.
Anyone up for a round of Worst transit experience?
For a long time mine was a taxi in Mexico during some football finals. But it has since been supplanted by a taxi ride in New Jersey (taxi was rolling cesspit, driver turned out to be both drunk and constantly on his cell phone resulting in several near collisions with telephone poles, parked cars, and other misc stationary objects).
Posted by: NellAgain | Jan 4, 2008 7:20:13 AM
"about 500 passengers were stranded for more than two hours. Three trains out of Grand Central Terminal were canceled and 10 others delayed by up to 90 minutes."
Who is going to pay for the delay for these 500 passengers and those on the trains that were canceled/delayed. This chap needs to be "FarmerBob"ed
Posted by: Right | Jan 4, 2008 7:25:37 AM
I like my GPS, and I got one for my wife. It needs an upgrade, but the local interchange is under massive overhaul, so I will wait a couple of years to do it. It also doesn't know about a few new highways I occasionally travel up north. Kind of funny that it completely doesn't know about a simple right hand turn near my house. It suggests a really weird route where it goes around the block. The roads are not new or anything either.
But generally a good thing. The info on businesses (including phone numbers) is great, although that'd be another reason to upgrade - to get the latest.
Posted by: stopeatingmysesamecake | Jan 4, 2008 7:31:35 AM
GPS is a useful technology, but it's too easy to use it as a crutch. I know people who are so dependent on their cellphones and GPS to find their way around that they find it too hard follow verbal driving directions.
If this guy had been reading a road map or even following MapQuest directions, he'd have been far more aware of his surroundings and probably wouldn't have driven in front of the train.
Plus the directions that your GPS gives are not always the best way to get somewhere. Truck drivers are always trying to cut through the narrow streets of my neighborhood because their GPS tells them it's shorter than taking the main drag. They hog the middle of the street and block oncoming traffic, they can't make turns and get stuck, they take out sign posts, they run into parked cars, and they make big ruts and potholes in the asphalt. And it's the residents of my town who have to pay for all this mayhem in time, inconvenience and higher taxes -- not the trucking companies that hired these spatially-challenged dolts!
Posted by: Phranqlin | Jan 4, 2008 7:40:18 AM
"For a long time mine was a taxi in Mexico during some football finals"
You don't mean real football, you must be talking about that soccer thing :-)
Posted by: G-Man | Jan 4, 2008 8:56:20 AM
"driver turned out to be both drunk and constantly on his cell phone"
Nell, in PA, they just call 'em Jersey drivers. No special distinctions necessary. I really can't say I've witnessed the deterioration in driving skills that supposedly begins with the application of Jersey tags, but maybe I just don't drive in New Jersey enough.
Posted by: sometimesilie | Jan 4, 2008 8:56:52 AM
I love the idea of OnStar but I'm not big on the GPS systems. I've driven a car with an updated GPS and frankly I'd tune it out after a while and completely miss what instructions it had just given me. Also, if you know a faster route and you leave the damn thing on it will keep trying to correct you. I prefer mapping my drive out prior to leaving the house.
Posted by: Cherie | Jan 4, 2008 9:18:24 AM
G-Man, You must be referring to American Rules Football.
Everywhere else on the planet its FOOTBALL. Although I've recently been informed that the state of Texas, all by itself has more military strength than the top five military powers in the world combined. So I might have to rethink my position on that.
STS, hmm, we get those up here as well. Most of the NJ plates I've seen are those on cars where the occupant is having a pleasant conversation with local law enforcement.
Posted by: NellAgain | Jan 4, 2008 9:22:56 AM
anon - I miss The Office too! Damn strike.
I'm proud to say I'm a Jersey driver (though I raised and therefore trained to drive in NY) - and most of the Jersey drivers I know are the safest around. I commute daily from NJ to NY, and I never have a traffic problem until I "cross the border". Are Jersey drivers considered unsafe because our highways have 65 mph limits (therefore we drive faster?)
Posted by: coconutkel | Jan 4, 2008 9:48:08 AM
My SIL has a gps in her vehicle, and I think it's retarded. Not having one, I mean the actual device. So we're in Gatlinburg, TN, and plug in the directions from A to B. We drove for over 30 minutes following its directions, when it tells us to turn right.
We couldn't turn right--there was no road to the right. The only thing to the right was the barrier wall of a subdivision. The damn thing kept telling us to turn around and go back. So we pulled over, checked a paper map, and realized that although we had entered the correct information, the gps was sending us on a 3-hour-tour of sorts for what should have been a 30 minute round trip.
Mister wants to get one anyway. I just roll my eyes at him.
Posted by: Soo | Jan 4, 2008 12:11:44 PM
I have had GPS for 2 years and never use it. It was a $1500.00 waste of money.
But it does look pretty when driving. What can I say, I know how to get everywhere in my city.
Posted by: Otis | Jan 4, 2008 12:24:04 PM
I had a small handheld GPS for a while that never let me down and was very useful for outdoors work.
Never tried using one for driving though.
Heard a story from a friend though about coordinates that were mistyped - had they followed the GPS blindly they would have gone over a cliff. You always use your eyes.
Posted by: S.O. | Jan 4, 2008 1:02:31 PM
I'm sorry but what kind of dumb*** sees that his GPS is directing him onto a set of railroad tracks, and thinks "Well, the machine says to go this way - must be a short cut!"
Posted by: Shadoglare | Jan 4, 2008 1:13:55 PM
soo, are you sure you had your rights/lefts correct?
Posted by: lester | Jan 4, 2008 1:20:58 PM
coconutkel,
It may well be that when New Jerseyites, much like the Masshats, stray from their natural habitat it causes them to drive like their hair is on fire.
Certainly nothing to do with those "speed limit" signs that someone put up all over the damn place as a practical joke.
Posted by: NellAgain | Jan 4, 2008 1:21:02 PM
Nell, Coconutkel, both of my parents lived in NJ for about 10 years, in fact my mother's from there and in their combined 75 years of driving they've had one accident between the two of them, although if I remember correctly, as a groggy eyed pajama kid I was frequently awakened in the backseat, usually being driven home from a night time Phillies game, by my father trying to explain to the Trooper why he was driving so fast. When I moved to Philly I heard so much about bad Jersey drivers that I would literally watch for them...anytime I saw a particularly obnoxious driver I'd have to crane my neck to see what state their tags were from, and I regret to say that my findings were always inconclusive. I think it is something about living in the Northeast corridor which make people so aggressively bad.
Nell, you remind me that I still laugh when I hear the moniker "masshole", lol!
Posted by: sometimesilie | Jan 4, 2008 1:53:54 PM
This just fuels my road rage. When it comes to getting and keeping a license in this country, people have it waaaaaay too easy.
Posted by: Angry Driver | Jan 4, 2008 5:05:54 PM
