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Driver Claims GPS Navigation Sent Him in a Lake, So He Obeyed

If you still needed more evidence that always trusting a navigation app is a bad thing, here’s the story of an American driver who ended up with his car in Buffumville Lake in Charlton after blindly following GPS instructions.
The car was pulled from the lake by emergency teams 1 photo
Photo: @bud_harris_photography via Charlton Fire Department
In other words, the man was driving on the route suggested by the GPS navigation in his car when he suddenly fell into a river, according to information shared by the local authorities.

And the Charlton Fire Department explains the driver managed to get out of the car on his own, eventually reaching the shore and waiting for the emergency teams to pull out the vehicle from the lake as well.

Local officials claim the vehicle was almost entirely submerged into water, as it was pulled from about 10 feet (a little over 3 meters) in the lake.

@charltonfirema was dispatched this morning to Buffumville Lake boat launch for reports of a vehicle in the water. The operator who self extricated himself was transported to a Worcester hospital for evaluation. Members from @MAFireDistrict 7 Dive Team responded and recovered the submerged vehicle,” the local fire department said in a post on Facebook (embedded below).

At first glance, the man wasn’t using a navigation app but a GPS system embedded into the car’s infotainment. And in many cases, these GPS navigation solutions are even less accurate than an app like Google Maps or Waze, especially if they’re outdated, as they don’t include up-to-date road information.

Everybody in the industry is working on keeping their navigation solutions as accurate as possible, but this doesn’t necessarily mean trusting them blindly is something drivers should do.

A few days ago, a couple and their dog spent some 24 hours stuck in the snow after using a route suggested by Google Maps. Earlier this year, a young Russian driver froze to death after his car broke down on an abandoned route provided by the same navigation app.

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About the author: Bogdan Popa
Bogdan Popa profile photo

Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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