Two visitors' holiday in Hawaii took a dramatic turn when GPS drove them directly into a harbour, and they followed the directions.
According to The Washington Post, the visitors were on their way to a manta ray tour in Kailua-Kona on Saturday when they drove their Dodge Caravan into the Honokohau Small Boat Harbour.
"I just think they must've taken their eyes off the road for a second," one witness, Christie Hutchinson, told Hawaii News Now.
According to the Washington Post, Hutchinson was about to draw her boat in from the harbour after a morning on the water with her husband and their friends when she seen the automobile suddenly go down the boat ramp and into the ocean.
"I was just sitting there trying to get out of the rain when I saw a car drive directly past our boat and straight into the harbour at a pretty good speed," Hutchinson told the newspaper.
The couple was belted into their seats, according to Hawaii News Now.
Hutchinson used her phone to record the van's descent. In the video (which she later shared on social media), the smiling driver appeared perplexed but unconcerned about what was going on. "Pretty sure that wasn't supposed to happen," Hutchinson says in the video as people around her yell at the women to get out of the car.
"I think everyone is a little shocked," Hutchinson said, adding that it "took us a second to figure out what was going on because they didn't seem panicked or have any sense of urgency to get out of the car."
According to The Washington Post, neither lady, whom Hutchinson described as sisters, was injured. Witnesses on the scene, however, had to shift into high speed to assist the driver in fleeing as the truck sank.
According to the publication, the passenger fled through the windows while Hutchinson's husband assisted the driver in getting out of the car and out of the water.
According to Hawaii News Now, the truck was completely submerged by the time emergency workers came to winch it out.
Samantha Tavares, an information expert for Hawaii's Department of Transportation, told The Washington Post that while such GPS mistakes have occurred in the past, they are uncommon.
"Usually, GPS is pretty accurate in Hawaii," she told the newspaper. "It's not exactly normal for that to happen."
