A tractor-trailer load of Wayne Farms chicken products didn’t make it to its intended destination because of one person’s over-reliance on a global positioning system, more commonly known as a GPS.
No doubt about it, GPS devices have helped many drivers deliver agricultural goods to reach the consumers, but sometimes, your GPS can lead you astray.
That’s exactly what seemed to happen to Harjinder Singh, who was transporting the Wayne Farms chicken through a rural area of Yell County, Arkansas.
According to a report from Northwest Arkansas Online, Singh was following the advice of his GPS, which led him down a historic wooden bridge along a dirt road. The report also noted that there was a sign near the entry of the bridge that stated it had a weight limit of 6 tons, and that the rig being driven by Singh was about 64,000 pounds too heavy.
A picture with the article shows that the wooden bridge collapsed, and the semi’s front end appeared to be submerged into the Petit Jean River.
Now, I don’t want to judge Singh, because pretty much anyone who has used a GPS has gone somewhere they shouldn’t have. For instance, I recall a time I took the family camper down a residential neighborhood with narrow streets after pulling over for fuel in Pueblo, Colorado, because our GPS told me to do so.
But it seems to me the sign was near the bridge for a reason, and judging from the photo, I’m not sure I’d drive my Ford F-150 with a 50-pound sack of horse feed in the bed across that bridge, let alone a semi with a trailer full of cargo.
I think you can call this is a classic case of why you should only use GPS devices as guides, and not to take everything they tell you as the Gospel.
After all, my family has had many a delivery truck show up at our place instead of the intended point of delivery, which is a concrete business about 6 miles to the west. And what is the deal with those devices telling you to take the highway to “Auckla City” because that’s the way it reads the abbreviated version of “Oklahoma City?”
Technology is great, but instances like this show that there are times you have to deviate from using technology too much. Perhaps we should go back to the time when guys drove around lost for 20 minutes before stopping at a convenience store to ask the person behind the cash register for directions. (Oh, wait, I guess I still do that when my wife isn't in the car.)
Drive safely, everyone.
