The weekly newsletter for Fed2 by ibgames

EARTHDATE: November 12, 2006

Official News - page 11

REAL LIFE NEWS: SATNAV SAYS... JUMP OFF A CLIFF!

by Hazed

As satnav technology becomes more widespread, we're seeing more and more stories of idiot motorists who assume that because their satellite navigation device tells them to do something, they must do it. We've had people driving off the end of piers, being diverted incorrectly down narrow lanes into rivers that are too deep to ford, and now, a German motorist who followed his satnav's directions into a toilet!

The car's system told him to "turn right now", so he did. Unfortunately, he was about 30 metres short of the highway crossing he was meant to take, and he drove into a building site. You would think he would have realized his error, but no: he carried on driving and steered his SUV up a stairway and into a portaloo.

Now, when I was a kid, and I did something stupid or dangerous, and my mum would ask me why I'd done it, and I'd say "because Cathy told me to" (she was my best friend), my mum would reply, "And if Cathy told you to jump off a cliff, would you do that too?" Replace my best friend with a satnav, and clearly there's a whole bunch of people out there who would gladly do it.

I can only assume that they have an amazing confidence in technology, and don't realize that sometimes, equipment makes mistakes. They haven't yet learned that computers do screw up, and you can't trust machines to have your best interests at heart.


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