--- title: "Woman Follows GPS Instructions, Somehow Drives Her Car Onto an Elevated Seattle Rail Track" description: "Blindly following the driving instructions from Google Maps isn't always such a good idea. While the tech has improved tremendously over the last two decades, it can still occasionally lead us down a long abandoned road or even [drive off…" date: "2026-06-04" modified: "2026-06-04" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/advanced-transport/woman-gps-drives-car-elevated-seattle-rail-track" categories: - "Advanced Transport" --- # Woman Follows GPS Instructions, Somehow Drives Her Car Onto an Elevated Seattle Rail Track ![Screenshot of a woman and officers standing outside her car which is parked on the Seattle lightrail.]() *via Seattle Reddit* Blindly following the driving instructions from Google Maps isn't always such a good idea. While the tech has improved tremendously over the last two decades, it can still occasionally lead us down a long abandoned road or even [drive off an unfinished]() or [collapsed bridge](). Even by those standards, the latest bizarre incident is pretty hard to believe. A woman in Seattle took a wrong turn onto the tracks of a light rail line in the city after reportedly following her GPS instructions. She then drove for a quarter mile, managing to pull up to the elevated tracks of Mount Baker Station in a small neighborhood southeast of downtown Seattle. Footage shows the red Mazda SUV [struggling to move along]() the two rail tracks. Then, on Wednesday, an unintentionally hilarious photo [made the rounds]() showing the 70-year-old driver standing next to her stranded vehicle with her arms on her hips, as if trying to figure out [who had caused all of this mayhem](). https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/1tw6h9h/im\_sure\_youve\_all\_seen\_this\_plenty\_but\_the\_way/ As local radio station [*KIRO* reports](), the bizarre incident forced local transit authorities to shut down the city's 1 Line light rail service for two hours Tuesday evening. Emergency crews first cut off power to the tracks before removing the offending vehicle. It likely wasn't a straightforward operation. A swing loader, which is a special backhoe-like piece of equipment that can move along the tracks, had to be moved into place and lift the SUV using special straps, as footage recorded by local *NBC* affiliate [*KING*-*TV* shows](). Fortunately, nobody was hurt — beyond, perhaps, a majorly bruised ego. The woman, however, was taken to the hospital — where she hopefully had her vision checked out. According to police, she was not intoxicated and won't be charged with a crime. **More on bad driving:** [*Man Drives Cybertruck Into Lake to Test Elon Musk's "Boat" Claims, and It Went About as Well as You'd Guess*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()