Technology vs common sense

Well I am taking a break from my kitchen cleaning (yes I do that occasionally). The Washington/Seattle playoff game is on the TV, in the last 27 seconds.

I must say, the end of the game was somewhat exciting. Washington was ahead by a point, until a missed 30 yard field goal. This was followed by an interception that was run all the way back for a Seattle touchdown. Rinse, lather, repeat that a few more times and now it is Washington 14, Seattle 35. Hard to believe about 10 minutes ago it was Washington 14, Seattle 13. (btw by the time I finished typing this, the game is now over. Now I get to watch the Steelers. Yes, I like the Patriots. I also like the Raiders (yeah yeah rub it in), but the Steelers are pretty awesome. Roethlisberger is an excellent QB as well. I think he's 2nd in the league right now.

Anyway...to the technology part.

I was surfing the internet earlier today and came across this story of a dumbass who decided to turn his car onto the train tracks because his GPS told him to. To make it worse, this dude was a computer technician! Now I am a computer technician, and I can tell you that "common sense" is pretty much a prerequisite for our job. Apparently this guy missed the boat, however.

One really should not take what a GPS tells them literally. I use one every day, and you kinda have to look at the map and the roads and make up the difference. It is the driver's job to interpret that data that the GPS is giving you and make sense of it. The article states that the guy was "not familiar with the area." Sorry, that is not an excuse. I speak from personal experience, as I use my GPS every single day in areas that I am not familiar with. I have yet to end up on railroad tracks, ponds, or rivers. I am a full believer in darwinism...do something stupid that is way beyond "accidental", and well, stupid is as stupid does.


Check out the article from http://lohud.com/

BEDFORD HILLS - A 32-year-old Californian whose rental car got smashed by a Metro-North train last night was issued a minor summons for causing the fiery crash that stranded railroad commuters for hours.

Bo Bai, a computer technician from Sunnyvale who said he was merely trusting his car's global positioning system when he steered onto the tracks, was cited for obstructing a railroad crossing, officials said this afternoon.

The railroad's Harlem Division trains were back on schedule this morning after crews spent hours repairing more than 200 feet of the electrified "third" rail damaged by the crash, said Dan Brucker, Metro-North spokesman.

Bai, who has been working in Fishkill, was driving west on Green Lane around 7 p.m., and told Metropolitan Transportation Authority police the GPS system instructed him to turn right as he was crossing the tracks. He was headed for the Saw Mill River Parkway, just past the tracks.

He got stuck, tried unsuccessfully to reverse and finally abandoned the 2006 Ford Focus minutes before it was slammed by a northbound Metro-North Harlem Line train, MTA police said.

"As the car is driving over the tracks, the GPS system tells him to turn right, and he turns right onto the railroad tracks," said Brucker. "That's how it happened."

Brucker added, "He tried to stop the train by waving his arms, which apparently was not totally effective in slowing the train."

No one was injured, but 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. The damage was repaired by 2:30 a.m..

Bai, who works for a Silicon Valley computer tech company, had rented the car from U-Save Car & Truck Rental in New Windsor, N.Y. He was not familiar with the area, and was therefore relying on the GPS device's navigation instructions, officials said.

"One computer brain listening to another," Brucker said, chuckling, this morning.

Bai will be held liable for the damage to the train and track, as well as other costs and loss of revenue, Brucker said.