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Driver follows GPS off disused bridge, and wife dies, police say

Technically Incorrect: Sheriffs in Indiana say that a man was following his GPS too slavishly and drove his car onto a ramp leading to a demolished bridge.

Chris Matyszczyk
2 min read

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The Cline Avenue Bridge was demolished and closed in 2009. MickeyBPhotography/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.


The Cline Bridge in Indiana has been closed since 2009.

There are, police say, numerous warning signs and barricades telling drivers that the ramp leading onto it is closed.

However, 64-year-old Iftikhar Hussain allegedly drove a car, in which his wife was a passenger, onto the bridge ramp.

The car then plunged 37 feet off the now-demolished bridge. A police investigator told the Times of Munster that the driver had been too focused on his GPS navigation system to look where he was going.

Hussain survived, but his 51-year-old wife, Zohra, was killed.

I have contacted the Lake County Sheriff's office to ask how investigators can be sure that Iftikhar Hussain was slavishly following his GPS. I will update, should I hear.

However, a sheriff's office spokeswoman told the Times of Munster: "The Cline Avenue bridge is marked with numerous barricades including orange barrels and cones, large wood signs stating ROAD CLOSED with orange striped markings. There are concrete barricades across the road to further indicate the road is closed."

This isn't the first time that drivers have allegedly followed their GPS too far. A few years ago, there was even a UK case in which the driver's defense for driving to the edge of a cliff and getting stuck was, in essence, " The GPS made me do it."

This bridge has seen tragedy before. In 1989, a section of the bridge collapsed during construction work, and 12 workers were killed.

The Hussains, from Chicago, were reportedly on their way to visit family.