Put too much faith in technology and you may wind up in Croatia. A 67-year-old woman from Belgium learned that the hard way after she followed (faulty) directions from her GPS device.
The woman only wanted to go about 90 miles from her hometown of Hainault Erquelinnes, Belgium, to pick up a friend at the Brussels train station. Her GPS device sent her about 900 miles to the south before (during the second day of driving) she realized that something was amiss. It's unclear if she entered the address incorrectly or if the GPS was faulty.
Discovery explains that the driver, Sabine Moreau, stopped twice for gas, slept on the side of the road, and "even suffered a minor car accident" along the way. She told El Mundo that she wasn't paying attention.
"I was distracted, so I kept driving. I saw all kinds of traffic signs, first in French, then German and finally in Croatian, but I kept driving because I was distracted. Suddenly I appeared in Zagreb and I realized I wasn't in Belgium anymore."
The lesson here: If you start seeing road signs in (multiple) foreign languages, pull over. You're probably going the wrong way.
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That must have been some distraction!! And as a commenter on the article said, never again should I have to hear about a man refusing to pull over to get directions!
When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser. Socrates It's a shame people have stopped thinking for themselves. GPS is a wonderful tool but you still need to pay attention to your driving and what's going on around you. Christ I think people are getting more stupid every year.
But according to the map, she only went 5 inches so it wasn't so bad.
Technology.... a wonderful tool.... but use what is between your ears!!!!! (rolling eyes)
As Bugs Bunny would say............What A Maroon!! LOL
Which is why one of the executive orders signed by President Obama in the press conference this morning states that women are no longer allowed to complain that men refuse to ask for directions.
Apple Maps has a software error that sends people through a desert assessable only by 4wd when travelling through country Australia. Sometimes software can be an issue but people must take responsibility for their driving. It's not that hard to read a road sign as you drive, I am sure that is what they are designed for.
Not paying attention Huh? She was driving for 2 days? Had an accident? Got gas twice? She drove across Europe and it never dawned to her that maybe she should pull over and ask someone, LOL!! Does anyone really believe this story? I call BULLSHIT
My own two cents' worth, if I may.
From the "rational, social solidarity" point of view, all what you guys say is nice, polite, correct... BUT if she lives in the outskirts of Brussels (Belgium is only so big, gentlemen!) she should have realized she way way out of her way once she started seeing signs in German...
Got gas twice? At least once in German? If there's any rational awareness left in that old lady, she should have realized she was in friggin' GERMANY by the time she stepped out of her car THE FIRST TIME !
The lady deserves to have the Pllice come over and take her license away, befiore "she was so distracted she never noticed the school crossing monitor and plowed through 20 1st graders walking home".
GET IT ?
On the other hand... by European standards, Belgians are the European equivalent to the Beverly Hillbillies, so I will simply smile and carry on.
I've been to Brussels many many times for business and pleasure, turkish cab drivers (in Brussels) are better drivers than the Belgians themselves...
Did you know that, until the early '70s, you didn't even need a driver's license to drive? It didn't exist!
It was established only whebn other "EEC member nations" insisted they get in line with European standards!
So the old lady probably never even went through a driving exam in gher life, she simply turned 18 or 21 and sat behind the wheel...
ANd I would respectfully maintain that BS is not confined to her telling of the story. It is just as possible (and I believe highly likely) that the bs element was introduced by a reporter or an editor who chose to leave out a few facts, just to make the story more "marketable". But, what ever the reason, there is a strong stench of bs in the article as it stands.
"There's only three tempos: slow, medium and fast. When you get between in the cracks, ain't nuthin' happenin'." Ben Webster