Car hit by train nearby my hometown.

[Santa Fe buff]

Look it up- I live in Bourbonnais, IL- and not that far away is Oak Lawn- this is where I was born. Check this out!!

FROM STNG WIRE REPORTS
OAK LAWN -- A Wisconsin man claims he was following his in-car navigational system when drove onto railroad tracks in southwest suburban Oak Lawn and got stuck. The empty car was struck by a Metra train at 94th Street and Cicero Avenue before he could move it.

Oak Lawn police responded to a 911 call of a car stuck on the tracks at 10:21 p.m. Thursday. When they arrived, they found a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse facing eastbound and the driver and his female passenger standing nearby, Oak Lawn Division Chief Mike Kaufmann said.
~Report from Chicago Sun-Times.com.

I'll see if I get anymore details

Poor Metra, can anyone find a cheap F40PH of anykind with Metra cars anywhere!

Before police could attempt to move the car, a Metra train appeared. Officers tried to signal the operator but he was unable to stop in time and the train struck the vehicle, spinning it around and knocking down a traffic gate, which in turn damaged the front end of a squad car.

No one was injured and no traffic citations issued. The train was delayed for less than 30 minutes.

Kaufmann said the 24-year-old driver was obeying his GPS system when he took a right turn onto the tracks and his car's undercarriage became lodged on the rail.

"GPS will tell you something, but you still have to pay attention to what's going on," he said.

[fieromike]

Looks like the driver came from the shallow end of the gene pool...

[Redtail67]

what an idiot! ..lol

[Guilford Guy]

This isn't the first time someone drove onto the tracks due to GPS commands. I think Darwin had high hopes on this guy... Too bad for old Charlie...

[Paul M.]

I'm not sure why he got out of his car once he realized he was stuck on the rails.... after all, his GPS didn't tell him to do that

[CHUG]

The gps for public use isnt like nothing you would find in a nascar and wont give a driver instructions to get out of the car and so forth. It just seems like using common sense that if your car gets stuck on train tracks there might be a train coming and so get out of the car in case there is. Most model ho systems are set up so if a model car stops on the tracks the trains shut down you see and this system might be worth thinking about for real trains. Thanks.

[Guilford Guy]

Go back under your bridge...

[SteamGene]

There are good, sound reasons why the U.S. Navy teaches its midshipmen to sail a sailboat and why artillery students are taught fire direction using the old manual method used since indirect fire was invented. 
Gene

[CHUG]

Gene people doing things due to gps commands has got nothing to do with teaching artillery or midshipping except if your writing a story about trilby goes to annapolis and so forth.

[pdlethbridge]

Get some common sense These people are brain dead

[richG]

Ron White says it all. You cannot fix stupid. Sounds harsh?
Think about something stupid you did, Hopefully learned your lesson and did not do it again. As days, months went on you found out hundreds, thousands have done the same thing after you. You cannot fix it. Ignorance is not bliss.. Common sense is not common.

Rich

[pdlethbridge]

What would happen if their GPS broke? They would get lost in their garage

[mhampton]

Gene people doing things due to gps commands has got nothing to do with teaching artillery or midshipping except if your writing a story about trilby goes to annapolis and so forth.

Teaching manual methods of sailing or artillery has EVERYTHING to do with teaching someone not to rely strictly on automated/electronic means.  Screw ups by relying strictly on automation should never occur when common sense (which apparently isn't all that common) tells you otherwise.

Mike

[Santa Fe buff]

Well the guy learned something-
don't be such an airhead on the road, when we first moved here, everyone signaled when turning, now- it never happens!
I was just as surprised, I bet the Metra president is like-
"He ruined a $100,000 engine! By his GPS!"
The Police are mad too, if you read well, his car spun on the road and took out a squad car.
<laughs> he took out a squad car, total his, damaged an engine, and all he says is: "GPS will tell you something, but you still have to pay attention to what's going on,"-
What a dork, oh well, thats why you listen to the GPS.

[Jhanecker2]

I had the same thing happen a couple of years ago .  I woke up to find that somones car had been knocked into the ditch on one side of the railroad crossing .  The car had been clipped in the rear . I haven't a clue to what the driver was doing , as the view is unobstructed  for quarter mile to the east and many miles to the west .  The line is a former CNW freight line and they are going about 30 mph and blow their horns at every crossing. Since this is the last crossing in the township , the horn would have been blowing for  at least 3 miles . The rescue squad got to driver and hauled him away . He survived .  The UP put in a crossing gate with arms, it is the only one in town . The train stopped for a couple of hours till all the formalities were taken care of .  Stupidity can rarely be cured .