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Darwin Awards
2012 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
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GPS Misdirection

2012 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

A man newly arrived in Alaska drove off the ferry, down the road, and into history. Following the directions on his GPS system exactly, he turned left once, and then a hard right, down the ramp used to launch boats and into the cold waters of Prince William Sound. The National Weather Service reported no fog and a visibility of 7 miles on this particular morning and the man was not reported not to be intoxicated. It appears that he failed to look up at his surroundings at all as he drove past waiting boats, and into almost ten feet of water, a feat that required him to continue driving for some time after hitting the waterline. An ex-navy seal also recently arrived in Alaska was on scene, and dove into the water, breaking the glass on the ersatz gentleman's car and managing to free the man and his two dogs and bring them to safety. Thus preventing limiting our unwary protagonist to an honorable mention.

To provide some additional information, the boat launch is about a kilometer in the wrong direction after you exit the ferry, they give you directions while on the ferry, and the path is clearly marked. When you get to the boat launch, you are surrounded by large trucks busily launching boats at all times of day, the launch is again, clearly marked as a dock. This is also the peak of the salmon season and also the peak of traffic.

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM70EZ_Public_Ramp_Small_Boat_Harbor_Whittier_AK

Submitted on 08/30/2012

Submitted by: Siegfried Fuerst
Reference: http://www.adn.com/2012/08/23/2597925/man-guided-by-gps-drives-off-ferry.html 8/23/12

Copyright © 2012 DarwinAwards.com

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Candi said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
*Bam bam bam* Just how *stupid* do you have to be to follow GPS and ignore a bunch of directions signs and traffic. What REALLY takes the cake is he continued driving while underwater. If he had that capability, he should have been trying to back up! Thanks, Siegfried!

Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
Unbelievable. I can't believe anybody would blindly trust a GPS so much, especially in a remote location like Alaska. Anybody who has used a GPS for more than a few months knows just how unreliable they can be, especially in less populous locations like Alaska. Thanks, Siegfried!

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