A Pennsylvania truck driver narrowly evaded death on Thursday when he entered the wrong town name in his GPS, and ended up in a trainweck—literally.
It happened when the driver, unnamed in media reports, was trying to deliver his load to Gouldsboro, Pennsylvania. Instead of entering ‘Gouldsboro’ in his GPS device, the driver entered the town name as ‘Goldsboro’ — a separate town about 150 miles from his intended destination.
It was about 8:20 in the evening when the driver realized the mistake, and tried to turn around. But he got hung up on the train tracks that run along the Susquehanna River.
Newbury Township Police Chief John Snyder said it’s not the first time a truck driver mistakenly followed a GPS to the wrong Goldsboro/Gouldsboro.
After getting stuck on the tracks, the driver exited his truck to see how he could get out of this mess. When he was outside the truck, he noticed the oncoming Norfolk Southern freight.
“It was the worst timing, ever,” Snyder told the York Daily Record.
The driver used his flashlight to try to signal the train, but it couldn’t stop. The train smashed into the cab of the truck and dragged the entire rig about 100 yards. The crash ripped the trailer open scattering the load of washers and dryers all over the railroad tracks.
Fortunately, no one was injured. But, as Snyder put it, “It was a real train wreck.”