GPS directs driver to death in Spain's largest reservoir

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/04/gps-driver-death-spanish-reservoir?CMP=twt_atn
<snip>
t is perhaps the secret fear of all users of GPS systems: what if the device gets it wrong and leads you into danger?

The Spanish Red Cross said today this was exactly what happened to a 37-year-old man who died on Saturday night after driving his car into a reservoir near the western town of Capilla.

"It seems the GPS system pointed them on to an old road that ends in the reservoir, and that in the dark they were unable to brake in time, with the car taking just a couple of minutes to sink," the Red Cross said in a statement.

The victim and a single passenger were driving home towards the southern city of Seville after working at a street fair when the Peugeot 306 ploughed straight into the waters of La Serena reservoir.

If that was in the states, lawsuits would already be filed for negligent signage and access control.

Almost exactly a year ago when a relative was having a wedding at our house and the bride and her nephew and his girlfriend got lost in the woods and ended up ripping out the oilpan on the girlfriend's dad's SUV on a giant rock.

Another time a visiting nurse got the scare of her life when her GPS directed her to almost the same road as the first group and she thought she would die alone, in the middle of the woods.

and there have been a few others.


Whenever we have to give directions to our house and people say, "Oh, that's OK, I have GPS", we have to tell them NO!!! Do NOT listen to your GPS. It will tell you that there's a "shortcut" to the house. There is no shortcut. If you take a "shortcut" and end up going over an embankment into a river or gully, you could die.

The Thomas Brothers map of a dead-end street that a friend of mine lives on shows his street connecting to a major road. Not only do the streets not connect, there's a 35-foot difference in elevation between them.

The driver of a vehicle is ultimately responsible for where the vehicle goes.

Caveat emptor.

:wtf:

If a road sign that was placed by government directs you off a cliff, you might be able to sue the government for malfeasance. You might have a hard time proving that the individual or agency at fault was not acting in good faith. But every paper map, every piece of mapping software you can buy from a commercial provider, comes with a disclaimer stating that the authors are not liable for injuries caused by errors in the data.

Here is an example, from the Terms of Service for Google Maps and Google Earth:

6. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND LIMITATIONS ON LIABILITY.
(a) GOOGLE AND ITS LICENSORS (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO TELE ATLAS AND ITS SUPPLIERS) MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES REGARDING THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF ANY CONTENT OR THE PRODUCTS.
(b) SUBJECT TO SECTION 14.1 OF THE GOOGLE UNIVERSAL TERMS, GOOGLE AND ITS LICENSORS (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO TELE ATLAS AND ITS SUPPLIERS) DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES IN CONNECTION WITH THE CONTENT AND THE PRODUCTS, AND WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE OR LOSS RESULTING FROM YOUR USE OF THE CONTENT OR THE PRODUCTS.

http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/help/terms_maps.html

So, if signs direct you off a cliff, it's YOUR fault?

I'll say it again: The driver of a vehicle is ultimately responsible for where the vehicle goes. If you encounter something unexpected in the road and end up hitting it, it's usually safe to say that you were driving too fast for the conditions or were not paying adequate attention to the road.

It's a way of thinking about your interactions with the world, a locus of control thing. Mine's primarily internal.

i was driving to it from a local rural road. The GPS told me to take a right at this certain small Concession road. When I got there, there was a LARGE sign saying "Use Highway XXX to get to our Restaurant. Do NOT follow GPS directions"

And once, Google Maps led me to an impassible road that was NOT maintained by the township - I had to back out nearly a mile before I could turn around.

DO NOT depend on GPS or Internet directions - use recent, local maps if you plan to take "shortcuts". Or ASK a LOCAL - even if it offends your male sensibilities.

but AFAIK, Rand McNally has never told someone to drive off a cliff....

dg

They preemptively deny any liability for damages caused by errors or omissions on their maps.

you've got to use your head for something besides a hat rack sometimes instead of blindly following directions from a talking box. or what's written on a map for that matter.

dg

Didn't he have his lights on?

(And yes, I've read the TN fire threads :))

I do not comprehend the slavish devotion some people have to their GPS devices - I use one, and I'm generally fascinated by maps and spatial technology in general, but why are people so willing to surrender responsibility for where they walk or drive?

I have friends like that, and it makes me cringe every time I hear "The GPS made me..." or "The GPS is telling me to..." :shrug: