GPS, Another UK driver nearly dies from following GPS instructions
By Darren Murph 
posted March 26th 2009 2:41AM
posted March 26th 2009 2:41AM
[Via Switched, thanks Alan]
GPS, posted March 26th 2009 2:41AM
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Oh dear god, how can one person be so stupid?
Have you ever been to a walmart? try to ask where something is located. their answer will be something between duhh and choking on their own saliva. oh and it'll take a couple minutes to come up with that answer as they have to "check" with a manager.
there are only two things i ever go in there for btw. car oil and canned air.
I don't think one can. I think he's blaming technologie for his own carelessness. And it should be really easy to prove: just follow the last route he took in his car and see if it tells him to drive off the cliff.
Have you ever been to the United States, Jamie?
The saddest part of these accidents to me is that the driver always survives.
What happened to natural selection? The ultimate punishment for stupidity in nature is death. It is the perverse nature of human technology & society of keeping the exceptionally dimwitted individuals alive that boggles the mind.
@loocas
Funny you say that when this guy is from the UK.
...wait until it happens to you. :)
"The machine knows!"
- Michael Scott, Regional Manager, Dunder Mifflin
this is why i use that trusty thing called a map, or a buddy giving me directions. Maps are (probably) more accurate plus i don't drive off the road.
He should of known better but I think the Engadet headline is misleading by saying the sat nav told him to drive into the fence.
The BBC story:
Robert Jones continued to follow the instructions when they told him the narrow, steep path he was driving on in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, was a road.
Mr Jones, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, "only stopped when his BMW hit a fence" above Gauxholme railway bridge on Sunday morning.
He was a bit of a fool though.
Yes these posts does get old. So what if somebody is stupid to follow the road? Isn't that the first rule of driving?
M
Actually, the first rule of driving is to look out of the windshield.
He followed a footpath I read...
To follow the road, you have to look out the windshield.... Not all vehicles have windshields either...
M
To follow the road, you have to look out the windshield.... Not all vehicles have windshields either...
M
@onepinksheep
LMAO.
If I wrecked my 5 series, I would become an hero.
Why, the 5 series is a great car...
I'm thinking somebody doesn't realize what an hero means.
Gun in glove box then?
How can the person die in an M5 in such a small road? Was he driving at 150mph in that alley?
And if you're used to follow the GPS, you'd be experienced enough to check the road? Or you'd hit cars, people, etc.
Why are these people so goddamn stupid? Do they not look at where they're going?
After reading some of these stories about drivers getting into ridiculous situations as a result of following their GPS, I must assume that they fully focus their attention on the screen of their nav unit as opposed to...I don't know...maybe LOOKING AT THE ROAD LIKE A NORMAL PERSON.
Over here using a GPS is part of the driverpermit test, I hope you can fail on it too.
BMW owners are the worst drivers on the road (at least here in the UK), so not really surprised that this dipshit almost killed himself.
I always thought that the worst drivers were those who drove the Rover Metro...
Only when the metro has a bean-can for an exhaust.
Those Metro drivers usually "upgrade" to become BMW drivers. Metro driving just allows them to hone their bad driving skills.
hello
And you thought only Michael Scott could do this!
Well technically that was a lake, but same principle.
At least this makes me feel better that the US isn't the only country with idiots.
A classic case of technology dumbing down the masses. And proves the old adage of "if someone told you to jump off a cliff, would you?". If it was the hypnotic dulcet tones of a Tom Tom head unit then clearly the answer is yes.
and the point of double posting this article is???
and the point of pointing out that it was double posted is???
and the point of triple-question-marking your pointless question is?
Question marks!!!
These don't even count as mornng humor anymore. This is a waste of my time engadget. Please leave it off my RSS feed. Thanks.
agreed
boo hoo engadget your free content isn't tailored exactly to my needs, i'm a smug baby
Thank you Uncontrol, now I'm going to be at work imagining smug babies and chuckling to myself all day.
One does not simply sat nav into Todmorden.
aww I was going to say that (essentially)
Rofl'd
There's only 3 main roads in Todmorden, what do you need Sat Nav for?
Come on. Give the guy a break. The GPS did preface its instructions with "Simon says..."
Playing simon says with the gps would be awesome! I would probably get lost all the time as I suck at that game!
I don't use GPS because it is not that important for me, but I really have a question for those who do.
Is GPS that bad or are these weird stories only due to lack of attention?
It is so strange to see this number of GPS tragedies.
GPS isnt that bad at all. You follow the road and it will say *turn left in 300 meters* so you get in the left lane and look for the road.
If you miss it it will take you a different route.
Not hard, if i had followed EXACTLY where my gps told me i would of ended up in the side of a house by now.
I dont really understand how they get them selves into these situations, when my gps says turn left i dont yell "shiiiiiit" and turn my wheel all the way and hope for the best.
The GPS just sets up a habit of listening to it and doing what it says. I use a GPS a fair bit and while I haven't yet actually driven off a cliff, I have found myself driving into weird places trusting that the GPS map actually was going to take me to where I was going. It does happen that sometimes the GPS chooses a way that is off the beaten path but turns out to be marginally shorter than going via the main roads only.
Obviously driving off a cliff because the GPS said so is extreme, but after months of listening to the box telling you to go left, go right, take the exit etc you begin to trust that it will get you where you are going and get complacent about checking for yourself. So, going off a cliff is an extreme case but I've seen similar tendencies from time to time in myself (giving the GPS the benefit of the doubt while it leads me down a road that doesn't really seem to make sense. In some cases it didn't make sense... so I turned instead of going over the cliff. ;)
I never really have the sound turned on on my GPS. I just put in the place I;m going, set it in the mount, and use it as sort of a guide. If any directions take me somewhere I don't want to or think is right, I don't go that way. The GPS is a aid to me, not a 100% correct device that I should follow 100%.
I've been in this situation. Your GPS is the one person who understands you, who talks to you, who you trust. I had a GPS, and we got on great for 18 months. Turns out it was a Cylon, and it tried to drive me off a bridge onto Stockton Blvd below. Fortunately the guardrail held, and I was able to terminate the unit after a struggle.