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SatNav Directly Responsible For Man's Death
Article by: robert
Date: 4 Oct 2010
 Well, I suppose it finally had to happen. We've joked many times on this site about people who get themselves into a pickle by fully trusting their satnav and following its every instruction to the letter.
This time it's a lot more serious.
According to the Sun, a 37 year old man has died after following satnav instructions that took him straight into a reservoir in Capilla, Spain.
The tragedy happened at night and it is thought that the driver simply didn't have time to brake when he saw the body of water in front of him. The victim's passenger managed to swim to safety.
How many times have you been led astray by your satnav and how many times, hand on heart, instead of turning round, have you carried on going just that little bit further hoping that eventually you'll be back on track?
| Comments
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 Posted by mikealder on Mon Oct 04, 2010 7:20 pm |
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A little unfair on Garmin though to use one of their devices in the picture unless that was the device involved in the tragic incident - Mike
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| Posted by DennisN on Mon Oct 04, 2010 7:30 pm |
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Tragic indeed, but yet another case of someone not driving within the capabilities of himself and the machinery - simply didn't have time to brake when he saw the water? That's because he simply wasn't driving within the limits of his headlights. And they say speed doesn't kill!
Dennis
If it tastes good - it's fattening.
Two of them are obesiting!! |
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| Posted by M8TJT on Mon Oct 04, 2010 7:55 pm |
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He wasn't driving too fast for his headlights. The Sun clearly put the blame on '...the darkness of the night did not allow them to brake in time..'
Eh 
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| Posted by Guivre46 on Mon Oct 04, 2010 9:15 pm |
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That's sad news. My first thought was how is this different from trying to follow a map in unfamiliar, unlit territory? But I've thought for sometime that a satnav makes you less attentive to driving clues than you would be if you were doing your own thinking, and concentrating on the environment. So the combination of user and device probably led to his death.
Mike R [aka Wyvern46]
Go 530T - unsupported
Go550 Live [not renewed]
Kia In-dash Tomtom |
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| Posted by DarrenR21373 on Mon Oct 04, 2010 10:00 pm |
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And I thought I had it bad that time when my satnav directed me through a sewage works...
On the road, not in the pipes, I hasten to add!
Drive carefully; the Government needs all the Taxpayers it can get. |
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| Posted by Kar98 on Tue Oct 05, 2010 1:29 am |
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The worst mine have to done was:
* die unexpectantly
* try to send me straight _thru_ the local courthouse that has only been there for a hundred years and there never was a road, ever.
* pronounce Mapleshade Drive as "Map Le Shade Doctor"
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| Posted by The Rudd on Tue Oct 05, 2010 5:36 am |
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| mikealder Wrote: | | A little unfair on Garmin though to use one of their devices in the picture unless that was the device involved in the tragic incident - Mike |
I agree a very sad story indeed, perhaps the Sun got the 1st sat nav that they could think of? Jerry
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| Posted by Bjalf on Tue Oct 05, 2010 8:50 am |
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| DennisN Wrote: | | And they say speed doesn't kill! |
Well, it doesn't. It's usually the sudden stop, or as in this case, being submerged in water.
But seriously, it's a newspaper article, designed to bring in the money. The satnav only gets the blame on account of being the newest "magical device" involved in the tragedy. 10 years ago, a mobile phone would be blamed, and 100 years ago, the car itself would be blamed.
As usual, it's driver error. As long as "switch on the doohickey" is synonymous with "switch off the brain" then stuff like this will continue to make headlines.
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| Posted by mostdom on Tue Oct 05, 2010 1:59 pm |
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I'm struggling to imagine a nice bit of tarmaced road SUDDENLY becoming a resovoire, although we are talking about Spain here. I wonder what clues he did miss to get into that mess.
A photo of the resovoir might provide some sort of vidication of the satnav?
Dom
HERE LIES PND May it rest in peace.
Navigon 7310/iPhone Navigon&Copilot |
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| Posted by Darren on Tue Oct 05, 2010 2:10 pm |
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There is this pic from Spanish web site lacronicabadajoz.com:
Darren Griffin |
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| Posted by mostdom on Tue Oct 05, 2010 2:17 pm |
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telegraph
Same here laying blame on the satnav, however this reservoir is enormous. Put this into google 'Embalse de la Serena' and you'll see it's huge. On the otherhand if you zoom in there is some very questionable mapping of the local area even with google maps.
I guess the blame accually lies in little or no mapping of local roads, poor signage, and inappropriate warnings of hazzards. That combined with driver blindly following satnav. As with most desasters, multiple small failures resulting in one catastrophic failure.
Dom
HERE LIES PND May it rest in peace.
Navigon 7310/iPhone Navigon&Copilot |
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