May I say that this is an example of ‘Stupidity has no boundaries’? I’ve come across a number of news that says people getting lost or involved in some sort of accident due to ‘over-relying’ on their GPS navigator when driving. Sometimes we can’t blame the GPS as the maps might get out-dated, or a diversion due to road works, that throws you and your trustworthy gadget off course, and took you some time to realize that you’re going the wrong way.

There’s news a few months back, regarding a woman suing Google for giving her bad directions and directing her down a rural highway. The woman was subsequently hit by a car while walking down the middle of the busy road and blamed Google for her being there in the first place. While that was clearly a case of someone blindly following instructions and not employing common sense, a recent case in Spain is less clear-cut.

Last weekend a man in La Serena died after GPS directions led him into a lake. Gizmodo cites a Spanish newspaper report that says the man and his friend were led down a rural road that ended abruptly. It was dark, visibility was poor and the man, a foreigner not used to the area, didn’t see the end of the road until it was too late. His car dropped into the lake and sank in a matter of minutes. While both men were able to get out of the car, only one was able to swim to shore.

It’s not clear whether there were signposts or a blockade to warn drivers about the lake, which makes it hard to know who or what is to blame. Though one could argue that this is just another case of humans relying too much on their gadgetry and not enough on simple common sense, visibility was clearly quite bad at the time of the accident so it’s hard to fault the driver. However, El Mundo also reports that the GPS did say the road ended in a lake but the men just didn’t stop on time. Probably speeding, or something. Unfortunately, the situation probably would have culminated in the same tragic accident had his friend directed him down the road. Then again, if the visibility is so bad, the driver should pull over in the first place. So whose fault is this?

[El Mundo via Gizmodo]