Eastern Railroad Discussion > Man Using GPS Device Drives In Front Of Train

January 3, 2008
Man Using GPS Drives in Front of Train
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 6:19 p.m. ET

BEDFORD HILLS, N.Y. (AP) -- A Global Positioning System can tell a driver a lot of things -- but apparently not when a train is coming. A computer consultant driving a rental car drove onto train tracks Wednesday using the instructions his GPS unit gave him. A train was barreling toward him, but he escaped in time and no one was injured.

The driver had turned right, as the system advised, and the car somehow got stuck on the tracks at the crossing. He jumped out and tried to warn the engineer by waving. He got out of the way just before the train slammed into the car at 60 mph, Metro-North railroad spokesman Dan Brucker said Thursday.

The car was pushed more than 100 feet during the fiery crash.

Some 500 train passengers were stranded for more than two hours during the Wednesday evening rush hour. The accident also heavily damaged 250 feet of rail, Brucker said

He jumped out and tried to
> warn the engineer by waving.

I guess the techie though having his car on the tracks wasn't obvious enough. Sheesh.

Wonder how long someone playing the automaton with a GPS device drives through an open drawbridge.

* JB *

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> He jumped out and tried to
> > warn the engineer by waving.

MauiTrainGuy Wrote:

> The driver had turned right, as the system
> advised, and the car somehow got stuck on the
> tracks at the crossing.

I read another news report which made it sound even worse for this "computer genius": he was driving along, and as he was crossing some tracks at a grade crossing, the GPS advised him to "turn right," which is exactly what he did without waiting to get to the street on the other side. Not "somehow"...

I suppose we can speculate as to which computer or software company he worked for...

Ray

This sounds like the TV commercial I saw a while back. The GPS tells the driver "turn left", as he crashes through the front of a store the GPS comes back and finishes the statement......"in 50 feet".
RJ

EMD100469 Wrote:
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> This sounds like the TV commercial I saw a while
> back. The GPS tells the driver "turn left", as he
> crashes through the front of a store the GPS comes
> back and finishes the statement......"in 50
> feet".
> RJ

I was thinking the exact same thing. There is no doubt in my mind that there are folks out here asleep at the wheel.

As one who has worked in the GIS (Geographic Information Systems) field, there will always be some amount of error in any map. Basic problem is showing a curved surface on a flat map, meaning there will always be error. Mapping companies use various projections depending on the usage. One system that works fairly well is called state plane. One problem is that in areas like where I live, the metro area is in both Kansas and Missouri. Well if you take a Missouri West map and a Kansas North map there will be overlap and gaps. So the makers of GPS stuff use plain old Mercator which is often 40 Ft. or so off of true location. Then you have to wonder from what the map was compiled from and how accurate was that when built.

Sneebly

Sneebly Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As one who has worked in the GIS (Geographic
> Information Systems) field, there will always be
> some amount of error in any map. Basic problem is
> showing a curved surface on a flat map, meaning
> there will always be error. Mapping companies use
> various projections depending on the usage.

I would also think that the people programming these GPS systems assume that a motorist approaching an intersection expects to be told about the turn before he's right on top of the corner, and that such motorist is smart enough to distinguish between asphalt pavement and railroad tracks.

For his sake, I hope this imbecile bought the liability-damage waiver from the rental-car company.

This is becoming a huge problem in Europe where large trucks are being led down ancient little cow paths in cities - with disasterous results - oftent getting totally stuck and frequently damaging buildings and parked cars.

User Error! (Let's only hope he doesn't procreate.)
—Mac

Whatever happened to just learning how to read a map?

prr4828 Wrote:
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> Wonder how long someone playing the automaton with
> a GPS device drives through an open drawbridge.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/20/uk-drivers-trust-gps-more-than-their-own-eyes/

"drivers passing through the village of Luckington have found themselves landing in the River Avon, by following a GPS-recommended route that pointed to a bridge that has been closed for a week. Despite warning signs on both sides of the road, and nothing but water straight ahead, local villagers have found themselves pulling an average of two cars a day out of the river for the past week. "When you ask what happened, they say, ‘My sat-nav told me it was this way,'" one resident told The Times. Meanwhile, the village of Crackpot (yes, that's really its name) has had to deal with drivers whose navigation systems have directed them to the edge of a cliff with a hundred-foot drop."


http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/21/driver-follows-gps-onto-pedestrian-walkway-into-cherry-tree/

http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/02/gps-leads-driver-into-tight-spot-stays-wedged-for-three-days/

http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/12/welsh-village-under-attack-by-gps-blind-drivers/

http://nyjournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080104/NEWS02/801040377

All the extraordinary info assets accorded to us to use with a brain has actually caused the dumbing of America.
Tommy

Akin to the phrase "controlled impact with terrain" used in aviation, there is a colloquial term for this sort of behavior in the computer industry: Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Computer (PEBKAC).

Advice: Don't always trust GPS.

I remember one time driving up I-65 in Alabama. The stupid GPS told me to make a left-hand turn on the interstate. Only one problem: the interstate was divided by a concrete median. Obviously I had had more sense to follow my common sense than to follow the machine's direction of travel.

Just goes to show, people don't always follow their common sense.


Cass Telles
"Slow-Approach-Slow" - 'Go by way of the B&O'
Railroads of NW Ohio
http://www.trainweb.org/rrnwoh

trails2rails Wrote:
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> This is becoming a huge problem in Europe where
> large trucks are being led down ancient little cow
> paths in cities - with disasterous results -
> oftent getting totally stuck and frequently
> damaging buildings and parked cars.

It's a huge problem. In the early days, the system didn't distinguish between paved highways and ferry connections. After a few dunkings, that's been fixed.

One of the US companies hires people to drive around field updating things like overhead clearances, weight limits, newly created one way streets, etc. That's become a big issue as many gasoline tankers, chemical trucks, etc are fitted with passive GPS (for silent shadowing) which lets a central office observe if they've gone off the preset route.