GPS FAIL: Woman Drives 900 Miles in the Wrong Direction

[Liberal_in_LA]

But what happens when your device sends you across international borders?

A 67-year old Belgian woman, Sabine Moreau, allowed her GPS to take her 900 miles in the wrong direction! What was supposed to be about a 90-mile trip to pick up her friend in Brussels landed her and her distracted mind in Croatia.

“I was distracted, so I kept going,” Moreau reported to El Mundo’s Brussels correspondent. “I saw all kinds of signs, first in French, then in German and finally in Croatian, but I continued driving because I was distracted.”

Her unforeseen voyage, which lasted two entire days, allowed her to traverse five international borders and brake several times to fill up her gas tank. Moreau didn’t realize she had taken a wrong turn until she reached the capital of Croatia. Her son was so worried that he reported her missing to the local police. Luckily, the police were able to hunt her down via her bank statements.

Ms. Moreau eventually made it home safely after her 60 hour journey.

http://firsttoknow.com/gps-fail-woman-drives-900-miles-in-the-wrong-direction/?utm_source=o_fo&utm_campaign=gps-fail-woman-drives-90-18841

[Kalidurga]

1. I laughed...

Cuz that would be something I could do. Probably not 900 miles, but I am sure I could go pretty far without noticing I was going the wrong way.

Her story is kind of funny too. I would probably end up in Canada instead of Mexico and wonder why there are signs in French.

[enlightenment]

2. That isn't a GPS failure.

It's a failure of common sense.

[sammytko]

4. or dementia. That is not normal.

[get the red out]

9. That's what I was thinking

We decided my Mom needed to move into assisted living when she couldn't remember how to drive to familiar places in her small town. Dementia not distraction.

[DrDan]

3. don't believe I would admit this error . . . "kidnapped . . I was kidnapped by Croatian terrorists"

[BeyondGeography]

5. Another chapter in Belgian driving lore

They are (not so) beloved in western Europe for their skills behind the wheel.

[Blue_Tires]

28. Jacky Ickx is sending some people to your home for a friendly "chat"

[BeyondGeography]

31. Oh they're great without a speed limit...

[gcomeau]

6. DISTRACTED?

Sorry, when you don't notice your hour and a half drive had turned into a TWO DAY road trip you've left distracted far behind and need to visit a mental health professional.

[Brother Buzz]

7. I once had a LORAN-C tell me I was sailing in Nevada while punching through a Pacific gale.

It was only off by 400 miles

Ms. Moreau might do better better sticking with road maps.

[Downwinder]

10. Always need a dead reckoning backup.

[Brother Buzz]

14. My dead reckoning is pretty damn good in a monohull

Not so keen in a forty-foot ocean racing catamaran flying between twelve and twenty-five knots with a kite.

[Downwinder]

19. I always got a kick out of the navigators.

You are way out in the ocean and ask, "Where we"
He has his pencil shaved down to a point and says, "We are right here."
When you get closer to shore, "He starts drawing a circle an says, "We are right in here."

I'll have to say though, we never missed Wake or Guam. Lajes could be a little sticky.

[Brother Buzz]

22. Two, three handheld GPS's

and a shit-load of 'AA' batteries is the way to go these day. This reformed Luddite became a believer in those devices after sailing into Bahia Tortugas (Turtle Bay) at night, without power or moon. Can you say blind faith?

[Downwinder]

26. Makes you wonder how those galleons

made it in and out.

[Brother Buzz]

32. I believe the littered wrecks marked the hazards fairly well

I'm just saying.

[npk]

8. This is the most distracted person in the history of distracted people.

But at least she wasn't talking on her cell phone while driving. Then again maybe she should have been. She could asked a human for directions.

[brooklynite]

11. Someone that "distracted" probably shouldn't be driving.

[KittyWampus]

12. my thought too

[olddots]

13. maybe she was listening to some distracting music like Abba

and she did some Nyquil -----she could have ended up in Nepal

[undeterred]

15. I drove from Pittsburgh to West Virginia by accident.

I started laughing when I saw the welcome to West Virginia signs. But then I thought about it and they never put those up just to mess with you. At least not in the states I've lived in. So I turned around and went back to the Pittsburgh airport and started over.

[Blue_Tires]

30. The first year the Redskins moved to what is now known as FedEx

My dad and I ended up at Navy's football stadium in Annapolis (true story)

[Floyd_Gondolli]

21. Europe has changed

Since the EU was formed. It's more or less a cursory check (if that) of IDs now unless you're flying.

[Tikki]

17. Years ago I happened to catch a 1957 Corvette and a 1957 T-Bird heading up the CA Coast while...

I was driving my 1957 Studebaker Hawk...They were prob heading to a car show or something...
..anyway, I pulled in behind them and drove about 60 miles in tandem...but then I remembered I better get home.

I have never forgotten the feeling, though. It was awesome.


Tikki

[cthulu2016]

18. Bullshit.

Nobody setting out for a two hour drive would drive for TWO DAYS with noticing the problem simply because their mind was on something else.

Probably a spell of dementia involved, or similar mental disturbance more profound than distraction.

[Buns_of_Fire]

20. Which is why all car GPS makers emphasize that the final decision is ALWAYS the driver's.

If the sucker tells you to turn right, and by turning right you drive right off a cliff, hey, that's not THEIR problem.

By and large, they're really only as good as the maps they contain. Thankfully, the maps in the US are generally pretty good.

[rurallib]

23. Well, here is a story from my past that this reminds me of

45 years ago I ran a gas station on interstate 80 in Iowa.
Lady stops to get gas and asks how far to Chicago? I say about 250 miles and she says "It was only 100 when I left home."
So, I had her pull off to a spot where we were looking over the interchanges and I explained VERY, VERY carefully how to get back on I80 headed east. I had her repeat the directions and point out where she was going. I couldn't leave or I would have led her down there myself.

And then I watched her drive off, get to I80 and take the west bound exit and head once more away from Chicago toward Des Moines. She seemed quit lucid and it was a bright sunny day. She was maybe 60.

[cbdo2007]

24. I could see my wife doing this.

[bluedigger]

27. I suspect the GPS took her exactly where she asked it to.

It's a navigational device, not a mind reader.

[SalviaBlue]

29. "Make a legal U-Turn"

I wonder if she ever heard that... I sure did when using my GPS in San Francisco this week end.

[Buns_of_Fire]

33. Thank goodness I can program mine not to even suggest such nonsense.

I tend to take out cars, trucks, pedestrians, shrubbery, and assorted lovable furry woodland creatures when I've attempted it. I know my limits, even if it doesn't!

[kestrel91316]

34. I find it hard to believe that anyone is this clueless.

As the daughter of a Boy Scout turned USAF survival instructor and Master Navigator, and with my own navigation creds as a former nationally ranked orienteer, I may be a bit biased.

But seriously??? WTF???? People need to take some personal responsibility and learn how to read a map. If you can't read a map, you aren't safe to drive.

[Phentex]

35. I love GPS and have no sense of direction...

but I can tell time! And I am awake when I drive so that I think I could tell I was crossing a border!

She had to be under the influence of something.

[bike man]

36. Several years ago four guys at a gas stop near I75/Lake City FL asked for directions to Miami,

heading for the Super Bowl.

They were coming from Key West. Lake City is North Florida. I think some alcohol may have been involved.

[SoCalDem]

37. Was she blind?

Were there no signs? How does one stay distracted for NINE HUNDRED MILES?

[Ilsa]

38. "First to Know" article is dated January. nt