I thought the commercial, here in the states, showing a man sedately driving his luxury car around town while listening to his GPS call out turns and then turning into a store front when the unit calls out "turn right...in 30 seconds" was just funny until i saw the following.
| Quote: |
BERLIN, Dec 22 (Reuters Life!) - Motorists who seem to turn off their brain when switching on their car's satellite navigation system have had a number of spectacular crashes in the past year -- ...
Drivers obeying directions given by a sultry satnav voice have crashed into rivers, construction sites and roadside toilets in Germany, and had similar accidents in Britain.
"It's hard to understand how these things can happen," said Maximilian Maurer, spokesman for the German motoring club ADAC.
"It's not as if people are driving in a tank with only a small slit to see out. You'd think they have their own eyes and brains engaged to make decisions and not rely on the satnav. I used to think satnavs were 'idiot-proof', but perhaps not."
In October a 53-year-old German, obeying his satnav's command "Turn right now!" jerked the wheel over and crashed into a roadside toilet hut 30 metres (yards) before the crossing he was meant to take, causing 2,000 euros ($2,600) damage.
A few weeks earlier, an 80-year-old motorist also followed his satnav instead of common sense and ignored a "closed for construction" sign on a Hamburg motorway. He hit a pile of sand at high speed but was not hurt.
"I just thought the navigation system knew a shortcut," Volker Heinemann was quoted as telling a local newspaper. His car had to be towed away.
In southern England a 29-year-old woman survived unscathed after misreading her satnav and driving the wrong way on a motorway near Portsmouth at nearly 120 km (75 miles) per hour, according to a local newspaper.
When stopped after 22 km of dodging oncoming traffic, she told police she had only followed the satnav orders. |
Tech keeps getting smarter, but there will never be anything that is truly idiot proof. Amazing, and surely we will have more such incidents as GPS devices become cheaper and more common. I like the automatic rerouting function on my gps device, but I still leave my brain on, after all, you never know which idiot is blocking a turn or incorrectly parked. Well, I haven't seen that commercial, yet, but that's still hard to believe. I know that some people turn their brains off, but I never knew that it wasn't uncommon. 
One other thing about GPS systems is that almost all of them know what street to go to, but they can't determine the exact location. Meaning, if you turn your brain off, you can find the right street, but good luck finding your final destination.
Technology has gotten smarter. Newer GPS systems can determine faster routes and show real time data/traffic. However, tech still needs brains to function properly. 
Hmm, Maybe I should sell my tomtom. I just got one off of amex wishlist. unfortunately i have to get an updated map. but i can see myself getting too comfortable going somewhere i've never been. I bought mine for trips out of town. I guess i better try to keep alert on those long trips.
I found it kind of funny and a little bit sad at how people will actually obey the voice and not actually look and use their brains to make sure if the voice is correct in giving the direction. I think people take these sorts of technology for granted. I mean even a simple stop light, is more important than we realize. After all, we see green light go, red light stop and yellow light speed up ;P
Seriously, how many people remember how they're suppose to act if the traffic light at a four way intersection isn't working and a police officer has been called to the scene to direct the traffic?
Heck, I don't even remember what I'm supposed to do even though I'm sure it was covered in my drivers education 8 years ago...
| gh0stface wrote: |
| I found it kind of funny and a little bit sad at how people will actually obey the voice and not actually look and use their brains to make sure if the voice is correct in giving the direction. ... |
Yeah, it is a little scary. I think people get too comfortable while driving and tend to forget that the shit happens. They eat, read, watch TV and all sorts of other things while driving and just assume that everything is going to go smoothly just like it does most of the time. Once you start adding other tasks, the act of driving tends to lose prime focus. Add a normally trustworthy device telling you to turn now and I can see it happening. | gh0stface wrote: |
Seriously, how many people remember how they're suppose to act if the traffic light at a four way intersection isn't working and a police officer has been called to the scene to direct the traffic?
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You treat it as a four-way stop, and be very careful about all the ignorant masses who don't know what to do. (It happens almost every hurricane season where I live, thats why I know.)In the airline industry, they call the problem "automation complacency". The pilots get used to the autopilot and assisted landing procedures. Sometimes their response is too slow when manual control becomes essential, in spite of the regular training they do to be ready for all situations. Whenever you have a machine taking over part of the mental work of some task, there is a risk of relaxing to the point of expecting the machine to be "right" in some situation where the operator needs to make the final choice.
Even a cruise control is a potential hazard. If you set your cruise control, then accelerate above the set speed manually, it is easy to forget that the car will only slow down to the set speed.
