Have you ever been in a car when a driver was paying too much attention to the GPS and not enough attention to the road?
If so, and it resulted in a fender bender, it probably felt like a case of technology failing to do what it’s supposed to— make our lives easier, safer and more entertaining.
Well three women visiting Bellevue Washington for a Costco convention ran into similar trouble Wednesday. According to KATU it was just after midnight and the ladies were looking for their hotel when the driver, lead by the rental GPS unit, drove their SUV down a boat launch and directly into a lake. Neither of her friends stopped her.
No one was hurt— one woman immediately lept to the dock, while the other two balanced on the door frames until the car sunk too deep and they had to wade to safety.
Granted, the boat launch was not well lit, but one has to ask: wtf?
I think the quotes that Lt. Eric Keenan with the Bellevue Fire Department best illustrate this mishap.
“We’ve seen sitcom parodies of something like this and to actually see it is surprising,” he said.
“They were trying to re-route their path and found this boat launch near the entrance to I-90 in South Bellevue and just kept driving into the water.”
“I don’t know why they wouldn’t question driving into a puddle that doesn’t seem to end.”
Well put, Keenan. While it sucks that the GPS lead them astray, this is not the case of technology failing a driver, rather a case of a driver temporarily failing life.
