The local paper has an article about a recent bus crash. A driver was following the computer instead of his eyes, and crashed one of the new double-decker buses into a railroad overpass. I’ve been riding STA buses for 35 years, so I know something about the setup. I’ve been programming for 45 years, so I know something about the setup.
Several things are missing from the article.
First: Commercial drivers learn one thing hard and fast: Know the limits of your vehicle. Be aware at all times of low bridges, load capacities, and narrow places. Plan your route to avoid them. If you see an unexpected low bridge on a detour, stop and back up or turn around. Backing up isn’t easy, but it’s a lot easier than crashing.
Second: Was this a standard route? Cedar isn’t on the standard route map, so the computer was misleading the driver into thinking it was standard. The article says the routes are adjusted at intervals (which is true) and the computers often misread the new adjustment.
Third: Why didn’t they check the computer route? Somebody in their IT department knew the changes and knew how they were inputted into the computer. STA routes are fairly simple, easy to remember. Commercial programmers have the same caution as commercial drivers! Know the limits of your machine and check it when you change it. 90% of programming time is testing and checking.
Fourth and my real point: I know most of those viaducts because I used to live near downtown. I didn’t know the Cedar one, so I googled it.
The train is full of COAL, probably heading from Wyoming to the port of Seattle. We still mine coal but we DON’T USE IT, in the same way that we don’t use our own driving skills or computer skills. Lawyers and bankers told us that coal is dirty, so we ship it all to China, which isn’t afraid of GETTING SHIT DONE. China is run by engineers, not lawyers or bankers.
We shape everything to avoid litigation, not to save lives. I’ll bet there’s a rule against checking, because checking creates more liability than letting random shit happen.
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CARVER!
START WHERE YOU ARE.
WORK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE.
MAKE SOMETHING OF IT.
NEVER GIVE UP.
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