IN - Driver following GPS drives off demolished bridge, wife killed

[TrackerSam]

It looks and sounds like a suicide pact.

 

[gracehatter]

Accidents happen when barriers are moved or are improperly placed. There really is no excuse for condemning a bridge and just leaving part of it standing for six years.


JMO

I have to agree. Looking at that picture how would it not be reasonable to assume over that span of time this was a hazard and there was a great potential for an accident of some sorts? :thinking:

 

[MyBelle]

I have to agree. Looking at that picture how would it not be reasonable to assume over that span of time this was a hazard and there was a great potential for an accident of some sorts? :thinking:

ITA. It was an accident waiting to happen for years. The volume of traffic down I-90 and into that industrialized area makes it a confusing mess. There used to be a casino over near the lake. I don't know if it is still there but if it is, they really need to finish the demolition. I can't navigate anywhere on the southside without GPS.

JMO

 

[LinasK]

I can actually see both sides of this scenario since 1) my indash GPS has outdated maps, 2) had to rely on my phone GPS and paper maps for the trip we took last week since I didn't have my car, and 3) have been over a similar drop off a freeway (No GPS) not well marked years ago driving through Wyoming/Montana. It was like a rollercoaster. My husband wasn't intent on killing any of us, but I see how a husband could plot to do this.
The barriers/signage being removed was criminal. That person should be prosecuted.

 

[MyBelle]

I can actually see both sides of this scenario since 1) my indash GPS has outdated maps, 2) had to rely on my phone GPS and paper maps for the trip we took last week since I didn't have my car, and 3) have been over a similar drop off a freeway (No GPS) not well marked years ago driving through Wyoming/Montana. It was like a rollercoaster. My husband wasn't intent on killing any of us, but I see how a husband could plot to do this.
The barriers/signage being removed was criminal. That person should be prosecuted.

I'm not sure they know who removed the barriers. This was an elderly couple and I'm guessing they weren't aware their GPS needed to be updated. We bought a new car and were advised not to get the in-dash GPS but rather a Garmin and stick it on the dash.


JMO

 

[SweetPea60]

My daughter told me about this. When she said they drove off the bridge, I though she was joking and asked why on earth would someone drive off that bridge. It's been closed for years! She said, "The GPS told them to......."

 

[Jan]

Did this happen at night when it was dark and the man couldn't see well? One time our GPS told us to make a turn into a lake where there wasn't even a road! Another time in Detroit it sent us down a dead end street in a very bad neighborhood that wasn't anywhere near where we wanted to go. And in Ohio once in the back country, the GPS told us to go over a small wooden bridge over a narrow river. Just as my husband started to turn to go on the bridge, a man came running and waving his arms yelling not to go on the bridge. He told us to take the next one down. There was no warning posted on the bridge but I have a feeling that something bad would have happened to us if we had tried to cross that bridge. When we go somewhere that is only an hour or two drive from where we live, I make a Mapquest map to go along with the GPS just in case. For long trips, I have AAA map it for us.

 

[al66pine]

Did this happen at night when it was dark and the man couldn't see well?....
I make a Mapquest map to go along with the GPS just in case. For long trips, I have AAA map it for us.

bbm sbm

Looks like it was daylight, unless several hours elapsed between times of accident and 911 call, then coroner call.

"The coroner's office was called out to 129th Avenue north of Riley Road in East Chicago at around 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Zohra Hussain was pronounced dead at 11:25 a.m." (On Saturday)
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/...cle_cbd32cd1-bb19-5adb-83a9-ee1e09bd4592.html Mar 28

Yes, your hard copy maps are a great idea. Thx for reminder.

ETA: Common sense - don't leave home without it.

 

[OldSteve]

ITA. One thought I had when I read this was that this sort of accident could be intended as a murder-suicide.

Wonder if there's any life insurance involved..

 

[al66pine]

Wonder if there's any life insurance involved..

If driver wanted ins $ from wife's death for himself, the catch as I see it:
can he be sure wife will die, not tragically injured & disabled? Can't be sure, imo.
Only way for driver to be sure to survive & get $ (and not take chance of being a broken pretzel for life) is
for him not to be in car as it drops off bridge. Still wife going over in car could survive.

If both or either has life ins policy and plan murder-suicide so ins'er pays beneficiary, e.g., family,
then same potential problem w Plan A - Will both die, not one or both injured & disabled?
Can't be sure, imo.

 

[OldSteve]

If driver wanted ins $ from wife's death for himself, the catch as I see it:
can he be sure wife will die, not tragically injured & disabled? Can't be sure, imo.
Only way for driver to be sure to survive & get $ (and not take chance of being a broken pretzel for life) is
for him not to be in car as it drops off bridge. Still wife going over in car could survive.

If both or either has life ins policy and plan murder-suicide so ins'er pays beneficiary, e.g., family,
then same potential problem w Plan A - Will both die, not one or both injured & disabled?
Can't be sure, imo.

I was thinking if they wanted it to look like accidental death so someone (other then themselves) would get the $$, maybe even double indem. since accidental...
strange accident...

 

[LinasK]

I'm not sure they know who removed the barriers. This was an elderly couple and I'm guessing they weren't aware their GPS needed to be updated. We bought a new car and were advised not to get the in-dash GPS but rather a Garmin and stick it on the dash.


JMO

64 & 51 aren't elderly!!! Even Garmin needs the maps updated. I bought and had installed after I bought my car a Panasonic indash GPS with a backup camera. I've been very satisfied with it, except that I need to update my maps to keep up with construction changes in my area. It guides me to a freeway offramp that no longer exists. I haven't found the money yet to purchase the updates.

 

[MyBelle]

64 & 51 aren't elderly!!! Even Garmin needs the maps updated. I bought and had installed after I bought my car a Panasonic indash GPS with a backup camera. I've been very satisfied with it, except that I need to update my maps to keep up with construction changes in my area. It guides me to a freeway offramp that no longer exists. I haven't found the money yet to purchase the updates.

Good heavens, I'm trying to show a little compassion. The driver is 64 and the barricades had been removed. It wasn't his fault the barricades were removed and it is pretty obvious his reliance on the outdated technology cost his wife's life and injured him.

JMO

 

[LinasK]

Good heavens, I'm trying to show a little compassion. The driver is 64 and the barricades had been removed. It wasn't his fault the barricades were removed and it is pretty obvious his reliance on the outdated technology cost his wife's life and injured him.

JMO

Yeah, and 64 isn't "elderly". My DH is only 61, and I'm 54. We are middle-aged, not elderly!!! We have a teenage daughter, not grandchildren! I had my daughter at age 40. Never implied that he removed the barricades, unless it was murder, and that hasn't been shown.

 

[al66pine]

I was thinking if they wanted it to look like accidental death so someone (other then themselves) would get the $$, maybe even double indem. since accidental...
strange accident...

Understood -- if that's the goal.

Just thinking, if getting ins $ paid out to whoever is Plan A, not a sure thing that both will die.
And accident like that could leave one or both pretzeled up for the remainder of his/her/their days.
Whatever the cause, sad.

 

[MyBelle]

Yeah, and 64 isn't "elderly". My DH is only 61, and I'm 54. We are middle-aged, not elderly!!! We have a teenage daughter, not grandchildren! I had my daughter at age 40. Never implied that he removed the barricades, unless it was murder, and that hasn't been shown.

I consider 64 to be elderly and will agree to disagree and move on.

JMO

 

[al66pine]

I consider 64 to be elderly and will agree to disagree and move on.JMO

Whether 64 is young, middle-aged, elderly, or absolutely, positively ancient, is not the issue, as I see it.
.
The question is what caused the car to plunge?
.
---Driver, by Accident?
He could have a disease common w advancing age, e.g., Alzheimer's but that's not necessarily the question.
The accident c/h/bn caused by side effect or adverse reaction to an ordinary OTC drug on that day's drive. Or Rx.
Or he c/suffer from some condition of body or mind that impaired his driving or decision-making. Chronic or temporary.
.
---Driver, Intentionally?
Or one of the other murder or murder suicide theories we've discussed.
.
---Mechanical, or Other?
Something in car went haywire, e.g., accelerator pedal stuck. Not seen any hint of that in MSM.
.
It would be nice to have a definitive answer, but I doubt if we'll learn.

 

[MyBelle]

Whether 64 is young, middle-aged, elderly, or absolutely, positively ancient, is not the issue, as I see it.
.
The question is what caused the car to plunge?
.
---Driver, by Accident?
He could have a disease common w advancing age, e.g., Alzheimer's but that's not necessarily the question.
The accident c/h/bn caused by side effect or adverse reaction to an ordinary OTC drug on that day's drive. Or Rx.
Or he c/suffer from some condition of body or mind that impaired his driving or decision-making. Chronic or temporary.
.
---Driver, Intentionally?
Or one of the other murder or murder suicide theories we've discussed.
.
---Mechanical, or Other?
Something in car went haywire, e.g., accelerator pedal stuck. Not seen any hint of that in MSM.
.
It would be nice to have a definitive answer, but I doubt if we'll learn.

There is a definitive answer. What some seem to be ignoring is the fact that the wife didn't die as a result of the plunge off the bridge, she died of burns when the car burst into flame. That is not something that the driver could have anticipated. I think it is silly to suggest this was anything but a freak accident by someone who was relying on dated technology.

JMO

The couple appears to have been on their way to visit family since they had food in the vehicle, a police investigator said. They were from Chicago and were likely unfamiliar with the area.

The driver was believed to have been following GPS navigation that told him to continue on Cline Avenue, and was apparently paying more attention to the navigation system than what was in front of him, according to a police investigator.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/...cle_cbd32cd1-bb19-5adb-83a9-ee1e09bd4592.html

 

[al66pine]

There is a definitive answer. What some seem to be ignoring is the fact that the wife didn't die as a result of the plunge off the bridge, she died of burns when the car burst into flame. That is not something that the driver could have anticipated. I think it is silly to suggest this was anything but a freak accident by someone who was relying on dated technology.
JMO
The couple appears to have been on their way to visit family since they had food in the vehicle, a police investigator said. They were from Chicago and were likely unfamiliar with the area.
The driver was believed to have been following GPS navigation that told him to continue on Cline Avenue, and was apparently paying more attention to the navigation system than what was in front of him, according to a police investigator.
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/east-chicago/police-gps-may-have-told-couple-to-drive-off-cline/article_cbd32cd1-bb19-5adb-83a9-ee1e09bd4592.html.

Ppl are free to say any potential answer, theory, or poster they do not personally agree w are "silly."
ATM w MSM info I've seen to date, I tend to agree accident, specifically
"freak accident by someone who was relying on dated technology," is likely the manner of her death.

My point - my theories, as well as others' theories here generally, are formed w very thin data in cases like this.
Little or no info about couple - except man & wife, marital status, & ages.
Nothing about health, driving habits, finances, their relationship w each other; friends, enemies, offspring if any.

W a vehicle incident like this (just hypothetical, not re this couple) if I learned -
- man & woman's marriage had been a relentless battleground from day 1 to 25 yrs later, ~monthly 911 calls for dom vio.
- chronic financial instability, bankruptcy in past, cars repossessed last month.
- drifting in & out of jobs a couple times a year, w stints of unemployment.
- extramarital affairs by both, some spanning years, plus one night stands.
- alcoholism. other mental illnesses some diagnosed& treated, some not treated.
- auto ins cancellations, evictions from apts.
- criminal convictions for drug dealing, domestic violence w ea other, assaults on others, DWIs, arson.
* the week prior wife filed for divorce, for all their marital prop, and loads of alimony.
* the week prior man submitted application for $2,000,000 life insurance for wife,
I def w/consider theories other than accident. Others are free to dismiss those theories & stick w accident.
Not saying all ^are likely to be present in any one couple, but presence of even a few might lead to non-accident answer.

IIRC, in this case police investigator quoted in link gave interview same day as car plunge,
so I doubt if he had a chance to get all the 'surface' info, let alone to drill down further & uncover 'dirt' (if any).
Even if suspicious info - like ^**^ were uncovered, I w/not expect that to surface in MSM, at least not now.
IOW, we don't know what we don't know, until we have further info.
JM2cts.

 

[OldSteve]

Understood -- if that's the goal.

Just thinking, if getting ins $ paid out to whoever is Plan A, not a sure thing that both will die.
And accident like that could leave one or both pretzeled up for the remainder of his/her/their days.
Whatever the cause, sad.

Agree, it's sad.... I was going off in a tangent about insurance... Sounds like this was just a tragic accident.