Oct 1, 2008 6:29 am US/Eastern
Driver Blames GPS System For Car-Train Collision
Metro-North Spokeswoman Says Not So Fast: 'If GPS Told You To Drive Off A Cliff, Would You Drive Off A Cliff?'
Second Such Incident At Same Location In Last 10 Months
BEDFORD HILLS, N.Y. (CBS) ―
Many of us rely on them to get us where we're going, but when it comes to Global Positioning Satellites how much trust is too much?
On Monday night a man's car got stuck on the Metro-North tracks in Bedford Hills in Westchester County because he said his GPS told him to make a right turn.
And it's not the first time this has happened there.
It's the tool that has become indispensable for some -- the GPS directional unit, which literally tells a driver where to turn to get to any destination.
But police in Westchester said Jose Silva's over dependence on GPS led to his car getting leveled by a train after being stuck on the track. Silva and his passengers escaped injury before the train came.
"If he was paying attention to the road it might not have happened," said Assistant Dep. Chief Steve Conner of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police.
It was dark when Silva's car came off the Saw Mill Parkway. Despite having passed a sign that said railroad crossing and despite approaching railroad crossing gates, Silva said the GPS told him to take an immediate right, so he did, turning his car onto the railroad tracks, instead of staying on the road.
On Tuesday Metro-North went on the offensive, blasting Silva for delaying the evening commute for two hours.
"You don't turn onto train tracks. Even if there are little voices in your head telling you to do so. If the GPS told you to drive off a cliff, would you drive off a cliff?" Metro-North spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said.
This is not the first time someone has blamed GPS for getting stuck on these exact tracks. The same thing happened in January where a car turned onto the tracks. The driver escaped injury and while more safety features have been added here, it happened again.
"In both instances the common factor is both operators of the vehicles are unfamiliar with the area and were listening to the advice of the device," Conner said.
Listening instead of watching -- a potential recipe for disaster.
Silva was cited with traffic violations for driving on the tracks and not obeying signs.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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