Posted on 12/22/2011 6:12:26 PM PST by surroundedbyblue
A decorated Army veteran, who has never been in jail before, has been behind bars since Monday, and looks to be spending Christmas there as well.
"It's been quite an experience that, to me, is very unjustified," Doug Madison told Channel 4 Action News' Jim Parsons
Madison is scheduled to be in the Greene County Prison until Wednesday.
Madison told Parsons he was driving a chemical tanker from South Carolina to Halliburton's plant near Carmichaels, Pa., on Monday when his GPS directed him off Interstate 79 and onto country roads that have a 10-ton weight limit.
Madison's truck weighed three times that.
He was cited by a Pennsylvania State Police trooper for two traffic violations that carry a total fine of $12,000.
(Excerpt) Read more at wap.wtae.com ...
If the GPS told you to drive off a bridge?
Not sure about what being a “decorated Army veteran” makes this a story. If anything, he should understand land navigation.
GPS systems aren’t worth a damn...neither is this judge.
A GPS setup for HAZMAT loads will not take you off the main road (Interstate) except near cities; then you usually follow the beltway around them. Maybe this guy just had a regular car GPS. Not really enough info to go on. But that is what common sense and a little intelligence is for; to keep you from making dumba** mistakes like this. (I know, we haul HAZMAT 95% of the time.)
Relying upon GPS instead of your brains is a good way to get yourself in trouble.
Never depend on GPS alone. They have taken people into Oregon mountain roads where they got stuck in the snow and some ended up freezing to death.
Or this guy know he was overweight or wouldn’t pass a safety check and decided to go around. It would be interesting to see if he passed through any other checks on his drive up...
The VA now has laison reps who work with the justice system in every city...
If he goes to the Va, these reps will intervene.
A lot depends on his company’s policy on the GPS. I suspect most companies require the driver to follow the device unless there’s an obvious reason not to (sends you down a goat trail, requires fording a river etc). If he’s a relatively new driver, he may have been over-careful in following company policy.
Morons abound. CDL driving instructor here....several million miles in 4 season condx pulling everything from Jet fuel to M1 tanks. Rule of thumb is you are in charge of your own load and route unless directed by your dispatcher. He hasnt a leg to stand on. Sucks to be stupid. Roads are well marked. Wait till he gets home and his wife kicks his ass as well.
I agree with everyone - this driver bears the responsibility BUT he’s in jail??? Really???? Over Christmas?? I just think that’s overkill
Yeah I noticed the army thing, too, but what really caught my eye was the word HALLIBURTON. Haha!!! What a blast from the past!
Last spring most of our town was flooded
We got a call (I belong to FD) about car submerged in
flooded street.
Went out with our boat to pick driver off hood of submerged
car
Cops waiting for him - asked why drove around barrier
stating that road was CLOSED said the GPS had told him
to turn down this street
Was issued summons for ignoring barrier
.......keepin to the back roads so I wouldn’t get weighed.....
:)
Last spring most of our town was flooded
We got a call (I belong to FD) about car submerged in
flooded street.
Went out with our boat to pick driver off hood of submerged
car
Cops waiting for him - asked why drove around barrier
stating that road was CLOSED said the GPS had told him
to turn down this street
Was issued summons for ignoring barrier
True. Of course we will not get a chance to see his log book or his route. Overweight, bad tires, some lights out, maybe he was out of legal hours too. But if he could read English, he should have seen the 10 ton limit sign. Maybe more will come out. No matter what, bad timing on his part.
You’d think for a possible 12 grand infraction, he’d would have the GPS for trucks!
Some sympathy for the Christmas season, but the GPS thing reminds me of the people who followed their GPS instructions off onto a side road and got caught in a blizzard ... not entirely bright! As my dad used to say “would you jump off a cliff just because someone told you to do it?” Same with the GPS ... it must be used with the addition of a little common sense. I personally prefer to use printed maps.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.