http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080103/NEWS01/801030409
A 32-year-old Californian whose rental car got smashed by a Metro-North train last night was issued a minor summons for causing the fiery crash that stranded railroad commuters for hours.
Bo Bai, a computer technician from Sunnyvale who said he was merely trusting his car's global positioning system when he steered onto the tracks, was cited for obstructing a railroad crossing, officials said this afternoon...
...the GPS system instructed him to turn right as he was crossing the tracks. He was headed for the Saw Mill River Parkway, just past the tracks.
He got stuck, tried unsuccessfully to reverse and finally abandoned the 2006 Ford Focus minutes before it was slammed by a northbound Metro-North Harlem Line train, MTA police said.
"As the car is driving over the tracks, the GPS system tells him to turn right, and he turns right onto the railroad tracks," said Brucker. "That's how it happened."
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Here is a case of overreliance on technology or a tool, with a critical lack of judgement. You're driving over a railroad crossing, and your GPS device tells you to turn right.
What is the threshold of common sense to tell you that turning onto railroad tracks might be a pretty bad idea? Technology should be a tool, not a crutch.
To illustrate the power of technology when used effectively, I did something that would have been difficult a few years ago: I looked up exactly where this accident occurred, to share with you all:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&time=&date=&ttype=&q=Green+Ln,+Bedford+Hills,+Westchester,+New+York+10507,+United+States&sll=45.134476,-93.171369&sspn=0.007009,0.019269&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=0,41.225800,-73.713090&ll=41.226926,-73.716695&spn=0.003736,0.009634&z=17&om=1