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Stupid, stupid, stupid humans...!
Apr. 22nd, 2008 10:22 amApparently the pedestrian bridge in the Arboretum (also an aqueduct) not only has several warning signs advising drivers that it's only got 9' of clearance, but Raymond notes there is a laser sensor which triggers flashing yellow lights if an over-height vehicle approaches.
So how did the driver a of 12' high bus manage to hit it? Simple - he set his GPS to "bus" and assumed it wouldn't route him somewhere that didn't have "bus" clearance. The driver didn't think he had to worry about clearance, so he didn't see the lights or signs. (Raymond linked to this article on inattentional blindness, which I thought was pretty useful.)
As it happens, the bus had an off-the-shelf GPS that knew not to send him to routes generally closed to buses, but not one that tracks clearance height. (One clue might have been that the GPS didn't ask him the height of his bus.) The GPS company spokesman notes "Stoplights aren't in our databases, either, but you're still expected to stop for stoplights."
Some companies do send people out to collect clearance height data and create specialty GPS packages that calculate clearances, but it's a specialty item mostly geared to truckers. This article doesn't discuss price but it sounds like it's more expensive, too.
(Btw, all the links here are from Raymond's post. I'm including them here because I found them pretty useful.)
So how did the driver a of 12' high bus manage to hit it? Simple - he set his GPS to "bus" and assumed it wouldn't route him somewhere that didn't have "bus" clearance. The driver didn't think he had to worry about clearance, so he didn't see the lights or signs. (Raymond linked to this article on inattentional blindness, which I thought was pretty useful.)
As it happens, the bus had an off-the-shelf GPS that knew not to send him to routes generally closed to buses, but not one that tracks clearance height. (One clue might have been that the GPS didn't ask him the height of his bus.) The GPS company spokesman notes "Stoplights aren't in our databases, either, but you're still expected to stop for stoplights."
Some companies do send people out to collect clearance height data and create specialty GPS packages that calculate clearances, but it's a specialty item mostly geared to truckers. This article doesn't discuss price but it sounds like it's more expensive, too.
(Btw, all the links here are from Raymond's post. I'm including them here because I found them pretty useful.)
