Email

A 63-year-old woman from Oklahoma who was visiting San Diego thankfully (and luckily) escaped injury when a GPS ostensibly led her onto train tracks, police said on Thursday, February 17, 2011.

The GPS tracking device the woman was using in the rental car she was driving led her onto San Diego train tracks, where the car stalled and she had difficulty moving forward. She escaped the car, but the 2009 Hyundai Accent she was driving was hit in the rear of the vehicle by a Coaster train.

Here’s how it happened: it was a dark and stormy night (no, seriously). The GPS device told the woman to turn left onto the train track which, because of the weather and foggy conditions, the woman believed was merely a street.

The car stalled on gravel around the train tracks, where the woman heard an oncoming train. Panicking, she got out of the car and ran to safety.  While the woman was not injured, the rental car was damaged very badly.

This story serves as an excellent reminder: GPS devices are excellent tools to help us navigate, especially in unfamiliar cities. They are not, however, replacements for common sense and good judgment. GPS devices make mistakes too, and it is always worth verifying your route with someone who knows the area.

Don’t outsource too much of your brain to machines.

Article Written by Greg Minton