Driver puts faith in GPS, shears off top of charter bus on bridge
As of today, we're taking bets to see how long it will take before people realize that "GPS" does not stand for "Auto Pilot." The latest "But the GPS told me to..." story is brought to you by a charter bus driver in Seattle. Piloting a coach through the Washington Arboretum -- as the GPS instructed him -- the driver ignored, or didn't see, or didn't believe (take your pick) the flashing lights and sign warning him that his 11-foot-high bus was too tall for the looming 9-foot concrete overpass.
You can see how the story ends. The overpass ended up with some superficial damage, the coach got a removable top, and the girls softball team inside received some minor injuries. Luckily, the 60-inch sewage pipe inside the overpass wasn't ruptured. The driver was ticketed for $154. And in response to the charter company executive who remarked, "We just thought it would be a safe route because, why else would they have a selection for a bus?", a Garmin spokesman responded "Stoplights aren't in our databases, either, but you're still expected to stop for stoplights."
[Source: Seattle Pi]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
k.w.a 7:35PM (4/18/2008)
im glad everyone was alright. Are GPS systems really that dangerous? they seem to bring out the stupidity in people
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Aprime 7:39PM (4/18/2008)
Seriously what the f, don't these people ever slow down to look where they're going or something? When Google maps gives me false directions I don't crash into a tree.
Save us, Darwin.
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Franz 8:21PM (4/18/2008)
The Garmin spokesperson said it best: "Stoplights aren't in our databases, either, but you're still expected to stop for stoplights."
Tom Fjord 12:13PM (4/19/2008)
GPS systems seem to be doing a pretty good job of weeding out the stupid from the intelligent.
Alex 11:32AM (4/21/2008)
Speaking of stopligts not in being in the database; PUT THEM IN THERE!
My gripe with GPS devices is their inability to actually account for stationary traffic devices when calculating a route. When determining that fastest route it should look at the number of stop signs, intersections and traffic lights. It will see that route A is a straight shot while route B is not. However it will fail to recognize that route A is a city street and route B is a highway. uggh.
MajorGeek 7:41PM (4/18/2008)
As someone who has a commercial drivers license, where I am confused is the sign says 9 feet. You must be aware your vehicle is over 9 feet. This is beyond laziness, its simply stupidity.
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JD 8:13PM (4/18/2008)
Well, even if you were lazy and disregarded the fact that your vehicle was over 9 feet, I can tell you, since I live about 10 minutes from that picture, that they have over-height sensors that blink lights at you on either side of that bridge. So you'd have to trust the GPS, ignore your knowledge that the bus is over 9 feet, AND ignore the blinking lights over the sign that's labeled "Over-height Warning". That's just stupidity.
MajorGeek 8:16PM (4/18/2008)
Wow! We have a bridge like that, flashing lights to direct drivers to an alternate road and of course signs with pictures and more before the bridge, yet it gets hit once a year.
spincycle 7:43PM (4/18/2008)
Why would anyone actually need to look at the road ahead? Common sense, no? Great, now we will all be seeing yet one more disclaimer to add..."stopsigns, bridges, bodies of water, trains, buildings, people, and animals may not be displayed on your GPS"
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SPF 7:45PM (4/18/2008)
What an R-tard!!!
Glad everyone is okay. The girls should put a beating to that driver, I tell you. They do have bats.
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Yar 7:48PM (4/18/2008)
"Luckily, the 60-inch sewage pipe inside the overpass wasn't ruptured."
That would have made this just classic...
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andre lavoie 7:48PM (4/18/2008)
judging by how far the bus got under the overpass before it stopped tells me this guy didn't even start braking, just went on through at whatever speed he was going. why couldn't he see that the overpass was nearly at head level?
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Bryan 7:49PM (4/18/2008)
I Just Can't Resist "It'll buff out"
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Karine Aguilar 11:45PM (4/21/2008)
Hahahahahahahah It wil buff out ! A classic - best one on the whole board .. High five!
MIKE 12:14AM (4/22/2008)
after the buff job why not have an upholsterer stitch a new top (after all it is almost summer!)
komamura 7:59PM (4/18/2008)
Common sense really must be a superpower, considering so few people have it.
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Rob 8:02PM (4/18/2008)
If this had been the same guy who drove for the Dave Mathews band, the sewage pipe would have burst. ;)
I also have a CDL, although I don't use it any more. When I was driving, I knew my truck could not fit in a 9-foot tunnel and I was certainly smart enough to know that "9'-0" " means 9 feet. It doesn't mean 10 or 11 feet.
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brian 5:50PM (4/19/2008)
the driver of that bus should be shot and have his genes removed from the pool. Idiot.
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Franz 8:19PM (4/18/2008)
I'm sick and tired of these accidents where people try to blame it on GPS. Whatever happened to keeping your eyes on the bloody road? Last time I checked, that's what you're supposed to do when you're driving.
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vento97 8:30PM (4/18/2008)
Electronic driving gadgets = idiot boxes for the road
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