Reminding us of the lesson of Dave in “2001: A Space Odyssey”, never trust the onboard computer.
A Florida driver got tipped off to the police by her own car after she left the scene of an accident in Port Saint Lucie.
Cathy Bernstein’s Ford Focus has the sometimes-useful, always-creepy 911 Assist feature which sends the car’s location to authorities and uses your phone to connect the driver “directly to local responders even if you are unable to reach the necessary controls.”
Like David Hasselhoff’s KITT or Dave’s Hal, they could always be listening.
“After relaying details of the accident and your vehicle’s location, 911 Assist will open the line so that you can speak directly with the 9-1-1 Call Taker,” according to Ford.
Bernstein’s car received “extensive front-end damage” and she drove off with the airbag still deployed, report WPBF 25 News.
In call recordings, Bernstein can be heard repeatedly denying any involvement in a crash.
However, the 911 dispatcher quickly figures out what has happened and appears to trust machine over human: “Okay, well your car wouldn’t call us if somebody pulled out in front of you unless there had been an accident… your car called in saying you had been involved in an accident, it doesn’t do that for no reason. Did you leave the scene of an accident?”
Police were then led to the woman’s home where they discovered her badly damaged car.
She was arrested and later admitted her involvement in the collision.
