Hans, a 36-year-old German stockbroker, is driving along a highway north toward the City of Bremen. His global positioning satellite system is mounted on the dashboard, held in place by a "sticky pad" that keeps a satnav, cellphone, or other electronic devices from sliding off onto the floor.

Hans has great faith in his GPS. The voice of the lady behind the electronic device has never let him down. Well, there was that one time when she told him to "drive straight ahead for 3.8 kilometers." Only problem was, the Rhine River was 2.75 kilometers ahead. Hans scolded the lady and she hasn’t made a mistake since then. But this day isn’t over yet.

At this point, according to a Reuters news report, Hans is listening to a syndicated stock analyst on satellite radio when the GPS lady blurts out, "Turn left here." Hans, obedient to his electronic mistress, makes the ordered left turn.

The turn forces Hans’ Audi up over a curb, across a patch of grass and then bumping across a set of railroad tracks. The low slung Audi can’t quite handle the tracks and the car gets hung up straddling the rails.

Fortunately for Hans, the trains on this line are mostly commuters, and not high-speed inter city trains. Within a few minutes the first train comes along and stops -- ringing its bell insistently as if to say, "Achtung! Get off my tracks!"

Hans is going nowhere. His Audi is absolutely stranded. A police spokesman says by the time patrol cars arrive there are nearly a dozen commuter trains lined up waiting for the tracks to be cleared.

According to a police spokesman, this isn’t the first time a motorist has been betrayed by a GPS system. In each case, police report that motorists proclaim their innocence, saying they were simply "doing what the satellite lady told me to do."