Brendon
06-12-2004, 06:58 PM
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,11553850%5E15321%5E%5Enbv%5E15306,00.html
GPS havoc on French motorway
Correspondents in Nancy
DECEMBER 01, 2004
AN ELDERLY motorist driving along a 130km/h expressway in eastern France
caused an accident when he followed the advice of his onboard GPS computer -
and made a U-turn to drive into the high-speed traffic.
Police said the hapless 78-year-old driver, who was not named, and the
occupants of the vehicle he ran into escaped unharmed from the collision
late Sunday, but it could have been much worse.
The man told officers his car GPS had told him to "make a U-turn
immediately" as he drove along lost on the autoroute near the town of Nancy
in search of a hotel.
He did so, not realising the limitations of his satellite navigation device,
which guides using verbal directions.
"It's not the first time we've had a GPS incident," one of the officers
said, recalling the time a police vehicle found itself face-to-face with a
motorist going the wrong way in accordance with his computer's instructions.
The Associated Press
GPS havoc on French motorway
Correspondents in Nancy
DECEMBER 01, 2004
AN ELDERLY motorist driving along a 130km/h expressway in eastern France
caused an accident when he followed the advice of his onboard GPS computer -
and made a U-turn to drive into the high-speed traffic.
Police said the hapless 78-year-old driver, who was not named, and the
occupants of the vehicle he ran into escaped unharmed from the collision
late Sunday, but it could have been much worse.
The man told officers his car GPS had told him to "make a U-turn
immediately" as he drove along lost on the autoroute near the town of Nancy
in search of a hotel.
He did so, not realising the limitations of his satellite navigation device,
which guides using verbal directions.
"It's not the first time we've had a GPS incident," one of the officers
said, recalling the time a police vehicle found itself face-to-face with a
motorist going the wrong way in accordance with his computer's instructions.
The Associated Press