16 January 2007: Only Obeying Orders

A 46-year-old German motorist driving along a busy road suddenly veered to the left and ended up stuck on a railway track -- because his in-car navigation system told him to.

The motorist was heading into the city of Bremen when, to quote a police spokesman, "the friendly voice from his satnav told him to turn left. He did what he was ordered to do and turned up over the curb and onto the track of a local tram line. He tried to back up off the track but got completely stuck."

Police said about a dozen trams were held up until a tow lorry arrived to clear the car off the track.

Several German motorists have crashed their cars in recent months, later telling police they were only obeying orders from their satnavs.