A New York City bicyclist is blaming a navigation app for misdirecting him—straight into a Big Apple No Man’s Land: the busy Lincoln Tunnel.
NYC’s Lincoln Tunnel is actually three tunnels burrowed under the Hudson River. The tunnels span approximately one and a half miles, connecting Manhattan and New Jersey. For safety reasons, bikes are banned in the tunnels. After all, with about 108,000 vehicles traveling through it every day, the Lincoln Tunnel may be the country’s busiest tunnel.
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey officials were surprised to see a two-wheeled vehicle heading into the tunnel. They stopped 19-year-old Bruce Lee on Tuesday night. His reason for the dangerous detour? Lee was delivering Chinese food.
Lee isn’t a stranger to NYC. He’s a Staten Island (one of the five NYC boroughs) resident. He told police that the Waze app on his phone directed him into the tunnel. Waze is a traffic and navigation app that suggests alternate routes for drivers. But as anyone who’s ever used a map app knows, GPS-based route finders don’t always have the best or latest information.
Police arrested Lee for trespassing. And if that wasn’t enough trouble, officials added criminal possession of a weapon to the charge after a dagger was found in his possession. Somebody’s lo mein probably didn’t get delivered that night.
(AP Photo: No bicycles allowed. Cars funnel into NYC’s Lincoln Tunnel.)
