20 Drivers Who Blindly Followed The GPS And Get In To Trouble.
A GPS navigates the driver to the desired destination but doesn’t take traffic, road obstacles and the driver’s vehicle into account. After all, technology can perform only so much until the onus is on the driver to ensure that he or she safely reaches the destination. Sometimes, the GPS can lead you down the wrong path, resulting in a mess. We gleaned photos of drivers who encountered major inconveniences by following the directions of the GPS.
20.LONG WAY FROM HOME
Players are supposed to drive golf carts on the course, not cars. The lady responsible for the car on the golf sand pit stated that it was the GPS that led her astray. Police arrested a 46-year old woman at the Whitinsville Golf Club for driving under the influence.
The lady blamed the incident on the GPS, which led her to the wrong route. The female driver also claimed that she doesn’t like golf, according to the Daily Mail. The police found that the lady’s Burger King cup containing, let’s just say, a questionable drink.
19.COUNTRY ROADS TAKE ME HOME
A 37-year old man from Switzerland found out that a GPS isn’t always the best option when you need directions. According to Auto Evolution, Robert Ziegler didn’t follow the road signs or asked for directions; instead, he opted to follow the GPS’ directions. The blind fate brought Ziegler to a goat trail.
“I was lost, and I kept hoping that each little turn would get me back to the main road. In the end, it told me to turn around, but of course, I couldn’t by then,” Ziegler said.
18.PATHWAY BLOCKER
A boatman and a tourist were unhappy when they discovered that they couldn’t access one of Country Kerry’s top tourist attraction due to a driver who took a wrong turn. A man driving an SUV took a wrong turn when his GPS led him down a walkway leading to the pier in Dunquin, which takes tourist out to the Blasket Islands.
The driver had to spend the night in the vehicle until a rescue team attended to him, as he could not climb out of his car due to the cliff surrounding him.
17.VILLAGE DISTURBANCE
A small village in the United Kingdom witnessed a spectacle when a lorry got stuck on the gable end of a house and ground the area to a halt, according to Saddleworth Independent. Margaret Taylor, Property Steward for Delph Methodist Church explained:
“The lorry came down Grains Road, clearly having ignored the weight restriction signs at the top, and then tried to turn into the village. Of course, he was too long and then couldn’t reverse back up the hill because his wheels were spinning. So he was stuck there, right across the junction from early morning till after midday.”
16.TRAIN TRACKS AHEAD
A rig caused a tremendous amount of inconvenience when he took a wrong turn while looking for the M6 highway in Birmingham City Center, United Kingdom. The truck blocked the Midland Metro for five hours, leaving commuters seeking alternative methods to getting around the city center.
A spokesman for the Midland Metro stated that police had interviewed the driver to determine how he got there and would inspect the tramlines to determine if the rig caused any damage to the tram track.
15.HEADS UP
Getting stuck because the GPS led you down the wrong path is one thing but causing the city repair costs is another. A truck driver took a wrong turn due to the failed GPS navigation and ended up on a boardwalk in New Jersey. Workers had to take the boardwalk apart and reconstruct it after the incident.
According to Live Trucking, the truck entered the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey and drove along the walkway. He drove three miles before attempting to turn off of the boardwalk.
14.UNCHARTERED TERRITORY
When you’re visiting San Francisco for the first time, make sure you have a vehicle that is appropriate for the unusual hills that the Californian city is known for. During the Superbowl, a Bud Light rig driver wanted to make a delivery but was unaware of the steep inclines and ended up getting his trailer stuck, according to NBC Bay Area.
13.A MISGUIDED TOUR
Tourists explore the world so that they can experience places and cultures that are unfamiliar to them. Although they try to see the most eccentric corners of the globe, the one thing that tourists don’t want to experience while traveling is the inconvenience of being stuck in a bus.
The driver of this bus found himself in a tight spot when he went down the wrong road. Not only does he have a small margin to maneuver the vehicle, but he is also traversing over mud.
12.THE PATH FOR PEDESTRIANS
Most of the time, a GPS will lead you down the right path, but what happens when it leads you down a staircase? Well, the driver of this car was the unfortunate soul to find out after he was driving on a path that led to a bumpy downturn. Once the driver discovered that he was in big trouble, he got out of the car and ensured the wheels were locked so that the car would not roll down the stairs.
The only good part of the incident is that the driver will have a good story to entertain his friends.
11.HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?
Blaming a GPS for leading you down a road is justifiable, but how does the truck driver explain driving through a bridge that isn’t higher than his rig. Some bridge heights are tricky to judge, but the driver of this Coca-Cola truck should’ve seen that the rail bridge was too low for him to pass.
Police had to close Park Street after the driver got the truck stuck, according to CTV News Kitchener. The stuck truck wasn’t the only thing the driver had on his mind. Waterloo Regional Police stated that they may lay charges.
10. NEVER MAKE IT ON TIME
One of the most important aspects of the courier business is timeous delivery. Customers don’t like to wait for their deliveries and don’t want to hear excuses from the delivery driver. A driver was late for his deliveries when he took a wrong turn. Being persistent, the driver kept going and hoped that his route would lead him onto the main road.
Instead, the road that the delivery van driver followed led him down a mountain bike trail. I don’t doubt that the mountain bikers were surprised to see a van on their route.
9. TOURIST ATTRACTION…GONE WRONG
The best part about being a tourist in a new location is experiencing the unknown. Sometimes, the unknown can be exciting, while other times, it is real bad. Three tourists from Japan found out that following your GPS while on holiday can ruin your adventure.
The three thrill-seekers drove into Moreton Bay after following the GPS directions. The tourists were on their way to North Stradbroke Island when the incident struck. The water doesn’t appear out of anywhere. How did they not see it from a distance?
8.BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
Even school children have to be careful when they get onto a school bus, as danger lurks everywhere. The driver of a school bus wanted to take the most convenient route but got stuck between a rock and a hard place. The bus driver attempted to squeeze through boulders by Balanced Rock in Garden of the Gods.
The incident caused minimal damage to rocks, while the bus incurred most of the damage. A witness stated that the bus wheels were suspended off the ground while wedged between the boulders, according to KKTV.
7.HIGH FIVE FOR GETTING STUCK
Road trips are meant to be fun but finding joy when your car is stuck is difficult. After getting stuck, two friends blamed the GPS for leading them through backroads that they describe as an alley of mud. After the two friends discovered that they couldn’t move the small vehicle from the mud, they called a tow truck.
Most drivers would be peeved with the GPS leading them down the wrong path, resulting in them getting stuck, but these two ladies decided that the occasion was joyous and showed it by high-fiving each other.
6.BETWEEN TWO BUILDINGS
Getting stuck with vehicles can happen to the best of us. The big problem occurs when you get a company vehicle stuck while needing to make a delivery. A driver got his rig wedged between two buildings after he followed the GPS to his destination. The driver was unfamiliar with the streets and got nabbed by the buildings.
The best part of the story is that the word ‘Phenomenal’ appears on the back of the rig. Considering the driver’s circumstance, his driving skills are anything but phenomenal.
5.A REGULAR OCCURRENCE
According to the Gazette and Herald, rigs damaging Dormy House in Silverless Street, United Kingdom has happened more than once. Wiltshire Council stated that it would prohibit vehicles from turning from Herd Street into Silverless Street due to the numerous rigs that have crashed into the buildings.
While the driver can blame his GPS for leading him to the narrow street, he should also take responsibility, as he should have kept up to snuff with the Silverless Street fiascos.
4.OFF TO THE BEACH FOR THE DAY
Don’t believe everything you see, read or hear, especially when the information comes from a GPS. A truck driver found himself at the beach after the GPS led him astray. Fox News reported that the driver was supposed to be driving south on Route 12 but ended up traveling north.
Once the driver discovered he was on the wrong route, he tried to turn around but reached the end of the road, literally. The driver got stuck on the beach in Corolla, North Carolina, a small village in the Outer Banks.
3.“TAKE AN UBER!” THEY SAID
Uber drivers rely on the GPS to get them around town to drop off commuters. While the GPS provides correct directions most of the time, it can falter, as it doesn’t consider that a car shouldn’t traverse over stairs.
An Uber driver in San Francisco followed his GPS, which led him down a flight of stairs. Although the driver wanted to do the drop off as quickly as possible, he wasn’t thrilled when he got stuck on the staircase. Considering that Uber drivers do a tremendous amount of driving, they are at high risk to incidents.
2.NOT READING SIGNS
GPS navigation doesn’t account for the vehicle’s height when it directs the driver. That is something that driver is responsible for, as humans have brains, whereas phone applications do not. Although the GPS led the driver to a low bridge crossing, the driver should’ve seen the sign that states the clearance height.
Without the clearance height sign, an experienced driver would’ve seen that the bridge is too low for the truck. Sometimes, the long route is the shortest route.
1 GOTTA GET TO THE TRAINING GROUNDS
A soccer player found himself in heaps of trouble after he used the information from the GPS to get to the training stadium. Andrew Wisdom, an English soccer player, got his Porsche Panamera stuck in a puddle of mud. Wisdom was on his way to the training grounds when the GPS led him to the inhospitable terrain.
Not one to quit, Wisdom abandoned the vehicle in the mud pit to get to training on time. At least, the coach will be proud of the commitment that Wisdom displayed for his art.
Sources – Fox News, KKTV, Daily Mail & Auto Evolution.