Charter bus company Journey Lines says a Garmin GPS unit is at fault for routing a bus driver manning a 9-foot high bus under a 12-foot high bridge. The bus driver apparently didn’t see the flashing warning lights or the big yellow sign with the bridge height, resulting in 21 players and a coach being sent to hospital. All were treated and released, but 16 of the students missed school the following day needing the recovery time. We’re sure this will have devastating ramifications for the US economy 10 years from now.
The bridge survived the impact, minus a few scrapes and bruises, but the bus driver was given a $154 ticket for “hitting a structure with impaired clearance”. The bus survived a fair amount of damage including the loss of its entire roof. A spokesman for Garmin said that it’s traffic data doesn’t take into account bridge heights when routing larger vehicles, but said that drivers should still be aware of roadside traffic signs stating that “stoplights aren’t in our databases, either, but you’re still expected to stop for stoplights.”
Like journalist Robert L. Jamieson Jr. says, “GPS is not a license to turn off your brain”.
