GPS leads driver into tight spot, stays wedged for three days

Every few months, we happen upon yet another story involving a motorist who simply believes that their GPS system would never, ever lead them astray. This go 'round, a Czech lorry driver continued down an incredibly narrow lane at the request of his sat nav, and even though his ginormous camion was clearly too large to make it around the 90-degree turn, he threw common sense to the wind and continued onward. Needless to say, his ride ended up wedged so tightly he couldn't reverse his way out, so he decided to set up shop for three whole days rather than calling for "an expensive weekend rescue." Interestingly enough, the fellow managed to acquire food after befriending a couple that lived nearby, and while we're sure he uttered Michael Scott's words in a different tongue, we've little doubt that "the machine knows!" was heard by nearby wildlife shortly before this situation turned sour.

[God @ Nov 2nd 2007 4:02PM]

the gps on my nokia n95 is so good

[Joe Shmoe @ Nov 2nd 2007 4:04PM]

What does *God* need with GPS?

/Kirk

[L. @ Nov 5th 2007 6:34PM]

Question- what happened to all of the kittens in the back of the semi?

[Jon @ Nov 2nd 2007 4:06PM]

Another anti-SatNav article by the idiots that are the Daily Mail... Paper maps aren't that much better either as they tend to share the same map source.

[deniz @ Nov 2nd 2007 4:28PM]

anti-satnavizm is the worst

[Qvantamon @ Nov 2nd 2007 4:11PM]

Call me when *this* happens (step 12):
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&saddr=MIA&daddr=rio+de+janeiro&sll=7.26537,-77.19434&sspn=104.838894,163.476563&ie=UTF8&z=4&om=1

[telepheedian @ Nov 2nd 2007 5:55PM]

Actually, if someone followed that to the letter, they would get out and swim, sure beats driving in there!

[cyrus @ Nov 2nd 2007 4:16PM]

People seem to cast common sense away when they have GPS in their cars. Oooh... gone are the days when we stopped to ask for directions and/or employed the use of maps. The end is near. Very near.

[psc @ Nov 2nd 2007 6:35PM]

You could be giving your sex away if you want to stop and ask for directions ;-)

[Levi McCallum @ Nov 2nd 2007 4:20PM]

Oh Michael...

[Prodigy1983 @ Nov 2nd 2007 4:20PM]

Whats next ... GPS boxes with disclaimers?

DISCALIMER: Subject to use with common sense. Minimum IQ 100.

[telepheedian @ Nov 2nd 2007 5:57PM]

My GPS already tells me to disregard all unsafe, or just downright dumb directions. Btw, it once told me to drive onto a road that was first marked in the 1800s and hasn't been seen since.

[blade417 @ Nov 2nd 2007 4:26PM]

I need someone to follow GPS directions with.

I have only done this once before.

I will pay you when we return.

...Safety not guaranteed.

[Conda @ Nov 2nd 2007 5:03PM]

havent heard that for a while! voted up!

[Luck Kanthatham @ Nov 2nd 2007 4:26PM]

Did you just say "lorry"? I thought this was an American site.

[Jorgillo @ Nov 3rd 2007 6:14AM]

Not only did he say lorry but CAMION...

We are going into Blade Runner lingo at full speed. We are going to need a nice dictionary. Camion and lorry are Ok. Let's see if we can convince the average Joe to understand and use 100,000 words and in several languages instead of the 200 he learned by the time his mother took away the feeding bottle.

[CE @ Nov 2nd 2007 4:37PM]

an GPS once sent me drive reversely to 1-way street. I got called by police and I blamed GPS. He let me go.

[CharlieX @ Nov 2nd 2007 4:42PM]

The Robots from the Future, our Mighty Overlords and Rulers, are sending sabotaging spies back through time so we become dumber, unable to think when our AA batteries dry out.... it'll make their ascension easier.

[nick @ Nov 2nd 2007 4:59PM]

Darwinism?

[JT_X @ Nov 2nd 2007 5:21PM]

Computers are about trying to murder you in a lake.

[Speedmonkay @ Nov 2nd 2007 9:19PM]

Its not supposed to if it follows the First Law of Robotics:

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

[sepirioth @ Nov 2nd 2007 5:48PM]

Every time i hear these stories I picture one of those nutters sitting with a virtual reality GPS... how else dont you see it coming?!

[SAM @ Nov 2nd 2007 6:32PM]

The Eletronic Overlords have already arrived.....
I had a customer who didn't understand why we couldn't do a particular job for them and it needed to be done another way. I finally gave up.
When I got back to my office, I emailed him the same scenario.
Within minutes he called back thanking me for the email explaining why the job couldn't be done.....

[Michael Marquez @ Nov 2nd 2007 6:40PM]

Stories like this are going to be commonplace when we get robotic controlled mass transportation. "Woman boards transportation pod in Idaho, wakes up in arctic tundra" "unknown number of Alzheimer's patients endlessly riding around US in transpods"

[Andrew @ Nov 4th 2007 7:02AM]

Come on, by that time we'll all have GPS/RFID tracking chips installed in our skull at birth. They might be traveling endlessly around in the transpod system but the government knows where you are :)

[Sirocco @ Nov 2nd 2007 8:29PM]

Oh come on, haven't you noticed the way all truck drivers drive like they're driving fiats?

[Skorpius @ Nov 2nd 2007 11:53PM]

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now...

[keithwwalker @ Nov 3rd 2007 1:42AM]

I wish I could trust my wife as much as that driver trusts the GPS! DAMMIT where is she?!?!?

[karts41 @ Nov 3rd 2007 3:12AM]

Artificial intelligence usually beats real stupidy

[Egisto Soldi @ Nov 3rd 2007 6:14AM]

Gps nav have 4 problems: first of all, sometimes they can't see the difference between motorway and secondary way. http://mondoauto.blogosfere.it/2007/11/navigatori-satellitari-utili-ma-non-infallibili.html

[Matthew Ledger @ Nov 3rd 2007 8:02AM]

I totally submitted this story! ... no credit ... no fair :'( *sob*

[rupert @ Nov 3rd 2007 8:50AM]

Lorry?! Are you British?

[Mike @ Nov 4th 2007 7:41AM]

Been there, done that...

http://tech.am/2006/06/02/tomtoms-hidden-all-terrain-mode/

...but didn't venture into the forest :)

[hothotdisco @ Nov 4th 2007 3:27PM]

lol sorta reminds me of that episode of the Office awhile back where Michael drives his car into the lake because of the GPS.

[ntrgc89 @ Nov 5th 2007 9:03AM]

quoting the article: "Eventually a tractor was hired to pull the lorry out of the lane, with the help of a tree surgeon, who made sure minimal damage was done to vegetation."

A TREE surgeon?? Honestly, I try not to be ignorant or disrespectful of other people, but come on, this guy operates on trees? What does he do??? (and where the hell did he study for it)

Note to all trees reading this who have been operated on, I mean no disrespect.