May you be judged as you judge
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 ...
Post his bail, and I'll bet they'll let him right out.
If he tried to take his chemicals over weight limited bridges, he deserves to be in jail. Must be a smallish truck though, if the truck and cargo were only 13 tons.
ping
” Must be a smallish truck though, if the truck and cargo were only 13 tons. “
A closer reading of the article shows that the truck weighed some *three times* the posted weight limit... ~30 tons, in other words.....
Hey all you people ragging on this guy: He screwed up, yes. He was thrown in jail for a prolonged time. Way more than the many guys who rape and murder and then walk. A disgusting case in PA comes to mind.
In my opinion that’s the point of the article.
My garmin can’t figure out where I live.
It tells folks that my address is about a half mile from where I actually live.
We have an area surrounded by wilderness and National Forest where there is a small sliver of private land that follows a wild river. The road is one lane in parts and winding so you cannot see who is coming. GPS has sent big rig drivers, large horse trailer drivers and large travel trailer buses down the road with predictable results. They think they have found the shortest route to the coast. The County has even errected a sign warning people not to go down the road in large vehicles.
Just got another big rig a month ago with pipe all over the road as his rear went off the pavement on a turn. Had one lady with a horse trailer and kids pull into one of the tiny villages on the road in hysterical tears.
I know I had a route planed to Yosemite and the lodge warned me that Map quest directions would take me down a 4-wheel drive rut. What is a person to do if they never have been there before?
Bad GPS is no excuse for a boneheaded road decision. Having said that, holding someone in jail for something like this is bigtime overkill if the person has a clean record.
In June I was driving from Kentucky to Connecticut, and when I got to Morgantown, WV, my GPS directed me off Interstate 79, too. Then it took me on country roads, directed me through Morgantown, and led me into Pennsylvania. What I really wanted to do was get on Interstate 68 and go through western Maryland. In the end I concluded that the GPS was trying to get me to take every toll road on the way, starting with the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It looks like I’m not the only one in that area who is getting lousy directions.
Update the maps.
You can also go to the Garmin site and report errors to help make the maps more accurate.
Well, in order to use the brain God gave you and override GPS when it gives stooooooppppiiidddd instruction
you’d
have
to
be
following
a
map the old-fashioned way, figuring things out for yourself.
I have never used GPS. I do things the old-fashioned way. I read maps, like my daddy taught me to do.
One could constantly be second-guessing one’s GPS and avoid mistakes like this poor guy made.
But to do that, one has to do everything one would do without GPS.
So why bother with GPS if you have to be second-guessing it constantly?
Either follow it blindly or don’t use it at all. Those are the only to possible choices.
But then I’m a luddite.
Agreed
You are quite right. Time for me to take a break if I read that as 3 tons over instead of 3 times over.
Thanks for the correction.
” Thanks for the correction. “
Not to worry - I read it the same way you did, the first time, and had the same reaction, ie “What’s the big deal over three tons overweight??”
Then I went back to see what I’d missed... ;)
May you be judged as you judge
Note to self. Learn to speak broken English with a heavy Spanish accent. Acquire a fake name. Don't carry a license. Illegals are simple let go at traffic stops.
Oh come on! Being a decorated vet means a lot and this is a bad deal. All you anal retentive experts on everything out there never make mistakes do you? The guy is going to have to pay a large fine and maybe find a new job, does he belong in jail? Hell no he doesn’t.
There is no “I am a decorated vet” exception to weight limits on local roadways, as far as I am aware.
*Spent a day in the Hill County Hotel for a cracked reflector.
Just for the heck of it I once followed my GPS directions from the home of a friend in New Jersey. It took me through the most convoluted route through Philadelphia that was twice as long as if I had just used I-95.
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