GPS routed bus under bridge, company says — Oooops!
The driver of the bus carrying the Garfield High School girls softball team that hit a brick and concrete footbridge was using a GPS navigation system that routed the tall bus under the 9-foot bridge, the charter company’s president said Thursday.
Steve Abegg, president of Journey Lines in Lynnwood, said the off-the-shelf navigation unit had settings for car, motorcycle, bus or truck.
Although the unit was set for a bus, it chose a route through the Washington Park Arboretum that did not provide enough clearance for the nearly 12-foot-high vehicle, Abegg said. The driver told police he did not see the flashing lights or yellow sign posting the bridge height.
Sure – blame the GPS instead of the stupid driver !
I bet it routed the bus past stop lights, crosswalks in front of schools, and other places where you have to look out the front window. Who gave this idiot a bus full of kids in the first place?
I guess he can’t read measurements
The kind of thing that just ruins your day.
GPS told me to tell you all to go F yourselves.
Now for that coffee.
stupid people will always try to find something to blame
Even I can see the sign that reads ?Cle?”arance 9′-0″”
And I’m thousands of miles away.
I don’t think it was GPS that told the driver what to do, I think it was GPS’s dog…
There is no patch for human stupidity.
– Patrick Norton
They have got to start making bridges higher or vehicles small. Every time I see a truck or bus go under a viaduct I cringe because they usually only have an inch or 2 to spare.
as a driver of a large commercial truck (5 axles, 18 wheels), the driver must always be alert for the unexpected, low bridges most of all. how someone could not see the flashing lites, the signs, and then ignore the fact that to the driver, it would appear that he was driving into the bridge rather than under the bridge. my guess is a combination of stupidity, serious lack of sleep, and major distractions on the bus. the driver and the company had better hope the driver’s post accident drug test is clean.
And this was a commercial driver? I had to watch out for clearance while driving the motor home and it was only 13.5 ft. tall. I’ve seen many a motor home in the shop that once had air conditioners 🙂
Wow. Anyone remember the episode of The Office where Michael drives into a lake following the instructions of his navigation system? Who knew they were mimic idiocy in the real world?
The should have read the backside of the package… Brains not included.
@#13,14: Typical commercial drivers do not think much… NY state has traffic rule partly enforced by the hwy. design: no trucks on any Parkway. Most Parkways have 1920’s stone-built low overpasses, frequently in 9-10 ft. range, some as low as 7.5 ft. Now, I personally witness about 1 incident per month of the a truck not only on the Parkway but stuck under the low bridge, despite warnings both at the entrances to the Pkwy. and in front of the obviously low overpasses. From radio-traffic-reports for the greater NYC area there is almost a daily occurrence of this somewhere in the area. So, the only conclusion is that commercial drivers ignore traffic signs, ignore warnings and even avoid common sense when they are driving around.
I just hope every passenger, including the driver, is okay. We all make mistakes – this was a serious one. It only takes a fraction of a second of not paying full attention to our driving, and every one of us may end up in a collision – with or without GPS navigation.
See, problem here was, he picked the wrong nav unit model, he was using the TOM TOM GO 920, what he should have been using was the TOM TOM STOP 9’0″
“Idiot, now to the unemployment line with you!”
GPS units are considered driving aides otherwise why would we have to PAY your ass to drive.
I guess if he was getting his directions off a map, he would blame that too. What an idiot. I think he was drunk or on drugs.
The dumbing down of America continues unabated
Two choices:
1 – driver was typical american idiot
2 – driver was typical illegal immigrant who don’t even understand difference between 9 feet and 9 meters
no more questions
Actually, In New York and some parts of New Jersey the posted clearance is from the top of the footing base which can vary widely (ex. add 3′ to 6′ to clearance measurement). Sure, common sense and experience should prevent this incident but nothing will prevent driver distraction (Girls softball team), just sayin…
The better story here is how Avis in Dulles will rent you a car with GPS knowing that they don’t work well in the protective Bush bubble that is downtown D.C.