Photo: kron4.com
Back in February, news of a vehicle climbing 999 steps on a 45-degree staircase somewhere in China reached us. The vehicle is a Range Rover Sport PHEV, and the steps are part of the Tianmen Mountain Road.
Of course, not all cars and stairs are created equal. Nor are drivers, for that matter. A reality put to the test by an Uber driver from San Francisco with too much trust in GPS.
On Monday, pedestrians going about their business in front of a Safeway store in San Francisco got to see how a Toyota Camry attempts to go down a flight of stairs. As all expected, the car didn’t quite make it down those ten steps.
According to Business Insider, the car was used to Uber people to and fro by a driver named Fred. Fred, you see, as most Uber drivers out there, has no idea where he is most of the time.
Fred relies on GPS, be it from Google, Waze or even Uber. If GPS tells them to jump, Fred-like Uber drivers ask how high. When GPS tells Fred-like drivers to go left, right or straight ahead, they close their eyes and go for it.
This time, GPS didn’t tell Fred to go down the stairs, as the man claims. It probably told him to go in that-whatever direction. The stairs just happened to be in the way in the real world, and not included in the online map.
Now Fred, having his eyes closed and all, didn’t see the nearly six feet gap in front of him. The fact that the car’s nose dove like an airplane didn’t mean much to him either. So Fred, his Camry, the two passengers and even the GPS got stuck and had to be helped by a tow truck.
Fred does not blame himself for the accident, nor does he hold GPS accountable. He does feel, however, that Safeway has to rethink the parking lot so that nothing of this sorts happens to other Fred-like Uber drivers.
On Monday, pedestrians going about their business in front of a Safeway store in San Francisco got to see how a Toyota Camry attempts to go down a flight of stairs. As all expected, the car didn’t quite make it down those ten steps.
According to Business Insider, the car was used to Uber people to and fro by a driver named Fred. Fred, you see, as most Uber drivers out there, has no idea where he is most of the time.
Fred relies on GPS, be it from Google, Waze or even Uber. If GPS tells them to jump, Fred-like Uber drivers ask how high. When GPS tells Fred-like drivers to go left, right or straight ahead, they close their eyes and go for it.
This time, GPS didn’t tell Fred to go down the stairs, as the man claims. It probably told him to go in that-whatever direction. The stairs just happened to be in the way in the real world, and not included in the online map.
Now Fred, having his eyes closed and all, didn’t see the nearly six feet gap in front of him. The fact that the car’s nose dove like an airplane didn’t mean much to him either. So Fred, his Camry, the two passengers and even the GPS got stuck and had to be helped by a tow truck.
Fred does not blame himself for the accident, nor does he hold GPS accountable. He does feel, however, that Safeway has to rethink the parking lot so that nothing of this sorts happens to other Fred-like Uber drivers.
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