Our Overreliance on the Computer
I truly enjoy the benefits that technology has brought to us in its many forms. However, one of my thoughts about the advance of that technology is that we tend to lose the essence of what we are actually doing.
Many of the mundane tasks we perform have been made much easier in the computer age. On the other hand, we have spawned groups of people who would not be able to function without the technology. We have all heard about the cashier who cannot actually make change without the assistance of the change function on their cash register. I have met cab drivers who need directions to the most well known destinations in their city. Now, we have local bus drivers who cannot find their way around their own city without a GPS unit. An incident in Seattle this week have highlighted the dangers of this. Details here.
In a nutshell, a bus driver with a busload of kids and adults on a high school softball team struck an overpass with a low clearance of 9′ 0 ” with his bus that had a clearance of nearly 12 feet. The results were disastrous, as 5 of the kids were taken to hospital in ambulances and the rest needed to be checked out, too. The driver’s excuse was that he was reading the directions off his GPS unit and did not see the bridge ahead. He did not see the bridge, despite passing four “Low Clearance” signs (two with flashing lights), one sign prohibiting vehicles over 10 tons on that particular road, and, of course, the overpass itself.
I understand that accidents do happen sometimes, but I also know that a LACK of technology might have helped this situation. Back in the day, before we had GPS devices, a bus driver would have stopped the bus to consult a map to see which way he should go ahead of time. Then, he presumably would have driven forward, looking out the front window of the bus. A driver looking forward at his actual surroundings would see signs, and bridges, and unexpected hazards. A driver going down the road and watching his GPS screen will see an artists rendition of what SHOULD be there. Useful, but technology cannot do everything.
I do not deny the usefulness of the GPS unit. I don’t think for a second that we should ban them to avoid this type of accident. That is an overreaction to the situation. We do need to understand the need to take care when using these tools while driving, and to not let them distract us from the more important tasks of driving.
I hope we can learn something from this driver’s error. I am glad that the high school kids were not injured more seriously than they were. But we must look at the worse consequences that could have happened here. I have not driven through the Washington Park Arboretum in at least a couple of years, but isn’t there more than one of those low bridges? Besides, they aren’t the worst thing that could have happened there. There are also many foot trails in the area that cross Lake Washington Blvd by way of a crosswalk rather than a footbridge. If the driver missed a big brick overpass at eye level, what would have ensured that he might have seen a family in one of the crosswalks.
A scary thought indeed.
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