GPS led truck off the road

[Cybergal]

10/3/08

Sunshine Coast Daily, Australia

A Global Positioning System (GPS) was not the best travelling companion for the 49-year-old Ipswich truck driver who was led to Obi Obi Road, which is not fit for heavy vehicle access.
A tree was the only thing that stopped the truck driver from plunging to his death yesterday morning, when his semi-trailer rolled.
The 49-year-old Ipswich man managed to climb onto the truck and wait for emergency services as the trailer dangled several metres down an embankment off Obi Obi Road.

The driver had used a GPS to guide him from Brisbane to Kenilworth when the truck rolled on a gravel stretch of road.
Kenilworth Police Senior Constable Rob Watts said the driver had been unable to negotiate a turn while travelling down the road.
“If the truck hadn’t hit the tree it probably would have fallen 80 to 100 metres, so the driver is very lucky,” Snr Const Watson said.
He said the combined truck and cargo weight of paper plates was “fairly heavy” for use on a dirt road.

“It’s something the police and the Department of Transport will look into it further,” he said.
“A lot of people use GPS and it does take you the quickest way; it doesn’t necessarily take you the correct way.
“There is signage based at the bottom and the top of Obi Obi Road in relation to truck use on the road.”
Nambour fire station officer Fred Heiniger said the driver assisted crews in getting him down from the truck and was taken to Nambour General Hospital with minor injuries.

Police expected the road to be blocked into the night due to tow truck difficulty accessing the road.
A RACQ spokesperson has urged drivers to use a GPS as a guide, and not rely on navigation when it is more sensible to plan a route by referring to relevant maps prior to travelling.
“It should not reduce the driver’s responsibility to stay alert, especially when acting on voice instructions in the context of prevailing road conditions and traffic controls,” he said.

http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2008...-truck-astray/

[Agent86]

Typical box hauler.. Too many driverd now are nothign more that seat warmers..

[Joetro]

Originally Posted by Agent86

Too many driverd now are nothign more that seat warmers..

Too true.

How would you not know that's not where you're supposed to be?

[ssbowles]

That's exactly what I'm afraid of every time I hear driver's talk about using a GPS. I can just imagine some 2 week wonder with a TomTom on his dash, just tooling down some Georgia back road somewhere....
Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking GPS or drivers that use them. But whatever happened to trip-planning, and verifying your route with the Atlas before you end up wedged under a bridge or whatever?

[Joetro]

Originally Posted by ssbowles

That's exactly what I'm afraid of every time I hear driver's talk about using a GPS. I can just imagine some 2 week wonder with a TomTom on his dash, just tooling down some Georgia back road somewhere....
Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking GPS or drivers that use them. But whatever happened to trip-planning, and verifying your route with the Atlas before you end up wedged under a bridge or whatever?

Yep, that's a big problem these days. They are told where to fuel, where to stop, which routes to take, even if there are better ones. Drivers aren't allowed to be drivers anymore.

[ssbowles]

Originally Posted by Joetro

Yep, that's a big problem these days. They are told where to fuel, where to stop, which routes to take, even if there are better ones. Drivers aren't allowed to be drivers anymore.

Not me. That's one thing that I've made clear with every company that I've been with... I am the captain of my ship, and I go when and how I see fit. Within reason, of course.
But nobody is going to tell me that I HAVE to take this road, or I HAVE to go regardless of road conditions, etc.
Let the desk jockies do their jobs, and let me do mine....then we'll all be happy campers.

[Joetro]

Originally Posted by ssbowles

Not me. That's one thing that I've made clear with every company that I've been with... I am the captain of my ship, and I go when and how I see fit. Within reason, of course.
But nobody is going to tell me that I HAVE to take this road, or I HAVE to go regardless of road conditions, etc.
Let the desk jockies do their jobs, and let me do mine....then we'll all be happy campers.

Well said.

[Agent86]

Over here they just point the guys at a truck and say, go load that and go to XXXXX...