Bus Using Non Commercial GPS Hits Overpass

Thought yellow lights just meant slow and nobody does that anymore!

It is a shame he didn't have the newly announced Dezl 780/Dezlcam 785, although I don't think it is actually available yet. If he had actually been using the 785, that would have been quite a picture!

http://newsroom.garmin.com/press-release/automotive/garmin-i...

I've been on that road, a lot of old stone arch type over passes that do not have the big yellow diamond type signs a large vehicle driver would look for, instead small rectangle white signs the post the lowest point of the arch.

Photo example here (actual overpass that was hit):

https://s31.postimg.org/x7w7ydy23/sspny.jpg

That said, every ramp to get on that highway has a no commercial vehicles sign as can be seen here:

https://s31.postimg.org/qu74v5gbf/sspny1.jpg

.

I guess they figure no one needs to read the 7'7" sign since there is no private vehicles higher than that, right? That's why they make it rather inconspicuous and place it at the point of contact. Ha, jokes on you, I warned you not to get on this road.

The sign images that soberbyker posted are at local entrance ramps, but along the route on the 3-lane main road the bus had to pass multiple night-lighted overhead interstate-style signs saying "Passenger Cars Only," and multiple yellow diamond signs over rectangular signs that post "Low Clearance Ahead" and the dimension in feet and inches (7' 7") 1/2 mile ahead, 1/4 mile ahead, and so on.

I'm from that area, traveled that parkway plenty. There are AMPLE low clearance warning signs.

Well, obviously then it wasn't the lack of signage - it also wasn't the fact he was using a personal GPS - so why did this thread start that way?
The real cause was that the driver left his brains at home. The only cure is for him to stay where his brains are.

The point is that the driver made the GPS all-important. The GPS is only a tool. Brain first, GPS second.

If the driver had used a trucker's GPS the dimensions and weight of the vehicle have to be entered, and the GPS would not have routed the bus that way. But the trucker's GPS is not perfect! Brain needed again!

The road is a parkway. And parkways are usually limited to non-commercial passenger vehicles.

The driver should have noticed that something was wrong when there were only passenger cars around him, and no vehicles larger than an SUV.

Yellow lights meant "CAUTION!"

That seems like something they should have tested for on the CDL exam.

Most states don't have parkways. Those drivers that don't venture to the Island much may have no clue that every road isn't for every class of vehicle.

that's what the warning signs are for unless they can't read.

People follow the GPS and don't pay attention to signs anymore. ALL signs.

of people these days, they blame everyone and everything else instead of themselves !!!
A GPS does not replace the gray matter between the ears!

I'm familiar with the Southern State Parkway and it has always been accident prone with it's often winding road conditions.
It used to be a toll road which made matters even worse then they are today.

Since the driver was from out of state (PA) he probably was not familiar with the road and it's history. This by no means is an excuse for his inability to to pay attention to the road signage.

What disturbs is the employer Journey Bus Tours, does not equip their drivers with GPS models that have commercial features.
For sure I would never board a bus from Journey Bus Tours.

I sincerely hope the two girls that were seriously injured recover from this avoidable accident.

^^ What muell9k said.^^
.. plus them not hiring professional, caring drivers with functional brains.

Anything else (imo) makes this no more productive than a school shooter thread.

The driver should have noticed no other large vehicles, and only passenger cars as traffic. Just like these errant outsized vehicles stick out amongst the passenger cars only traffic flow.

That should have been a YUGE clue.

A certified GPS with overhead notifications should not allow a prohibited vehicle on such roads. Perhaps entering the vehicle height to the GPS for such warnings should be a future feature. Navigation would prevent these roads from being used in a route.

There are other passenger car only roads nearby, and the reports of trucks getting clipped just goes on and on. How a HUGE truck ends up getting on a winding parkway with low overheads is still amazing in this day and age. There is plenty of signage. This is a very old parkway, built starting in 1927, long before present transportation standards.

Just like parking garages that have low hanging chains/bars to alert the driver of low overhead, perhaps the entrances to these parkways need similar detectors/alerts to prevent these vehicles from getting on these parkways.

Whenever I go under a bridge, and I see the bent steel and broken concrete, I just smh.

They would not know if yellow meant caution or slow, just that it was something to be ignored!

If He Or She Could Not Read English They Would Not know That

If you'd read the article you'd have seen that the driver has a very Anglo name is from PA and has a valid PA drivers licence!

Even if he entered at JFK airport as the article said he was picking passengers up from there, he would have had to pass about a half dozen VERY low arched overpasses before he got to that one. That alone should have been a hint and a half! If you need to get into the center lane to get underneath an overpass in your vehicle, you aren't supposed to be there!

I'm really surprised that none of the five chaperones on the bus didn't clue the driver to the fact he shouldn't have been there.

We have tons of people that have Drivers Licenses, any type of name you want, that bought Fake Id's and got valid AZ License with them, some even Vote, lol

In July, 2016, my wife and I were returning home from Vermont, towing our Travel Trailer on I-91S. My Nuvi 2669 directed me to take the Wilbur Cross Parkway towards New York City. I knew from experience that most commercial vehicles and RV's were not allowed on either the Wilbur Cross or Merritt Parkways due to low clearances, so I ignored the GPS and continued south to New Haven. While there was, in my opinion, adequate signage/warnings, many people blindly follow the directions of their GPS, thinking, I suppose, that the device knows best.

If the description here is accurate, I doubt that the best commercial GPS available would have done any good. It sounds like the driver would have failed to notice that he was on the wrong road, just like he failed to notice all the warning signs.

- Tom -

My experience with RV and Truck GPS units are that they will refuse to route you on the roads that are not clear, or safe for your vehicle. It won't tell you why, it will just tell you, in the case of commercial vehicle of size, that your vehicle is prohibited.

Anectdotal experience. Rout 50 in Arlington that leads from I66 to Arlington Cemetery Main entrance. There is an overpass that is a low clearance, less that 13'6". Driving a charter bus, 13'6" and 45' long, I wanted to go to the main entrance, but my Dezl 770 kept refusing to take that route. It will never tell you the reason, unless you do something stupid, like going that way anyway. As soon as I turned on Rte 50, the unit threw a red warning up about commercial vehicles not permitted.

Me, being the know it all smart ass, though it was because Buses were allowed, but not Trucks, and the Dezl 770 only does Truck and RVs and cars. No category for buses. And buses are allowed a lot of places where trucks are not.

Well, to end this story, I found the low overpass, too late to detour or turn around. Fortunately, my bus is actually on 13' tall, and the underpass was a curved one with two lanes. I was able to straddle the yellow line and pass under the center, which did have clearance.

So, -et-, to answer your question, if he had been using a Dezl model, he would have not been routed that way, because the software knows that Commercial Traffic is prohibited on Parkways in NY, regardless of size.