From: utzoo!watmath!watarts!geo
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Title: Re: Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate
Article-I.D.: watarts.1511
Posted: Wed Sep 22 23:06:30 1982
Received: Fri Sep 24 00:16:40 1982
References: csu-cs.1863

Speaking of computers killing people, I read an article
a couple of years ago about a man who pulled to the side
of the road on one of your tightly policed florida tolled
highways.  (We don't have them here, so  I don't know what
you really call them.)  Apparently he was just coming back
from his father's funeral.  A florida state trooper
saw his car, and radioed in the liscense number.

Apparently the programme that assigns liscense numbers
in florida reassigned him the number of a car that had
been stolen in 1971.  When the trooper radioed in the
number he was told it was for a stolen car.  He came
up to the man's car with his pistol drawn, and when
the man seemed unco-operative, (Perhaps he was still
overcome with grief, we will never know for sure now)
the nervous State Trooper shot him dead.

I know this isn't science fiction, but I had to submit
it when someone asked for references to fictional
stories about computer programmes killing people.