Woman drives onto ferry thinking it was bridge over River Thames
'I can't even… how? Anyway, I'm going to go and enjoy my boat.'
A woman who mistakenly drove onto a ferry thinking it was a bridge over a river was left bewildered.
Sophie Montague, a radio presenter and voiceover artist from Lancashire, made the wrong turn on her morning commute across the Thames last Friday.
The 28-year-old filmed the moments after she realised her blunder, as the boat pulled away from the dock and began its five-minute journey to Woolwich.
She told her TikTok followers: ‘I literally cannot cope with myself.
‘I have tried to cross the River Thames on what I thought was a road and I have actually ended up on a ferry – like, I’m on a ferry.’
To satisfy any sceptics, Sophie filmed the parked cars around her and the north London skyline as it pulled away.
She added: ‘I just, I can’t even… how? Anyway, I’m going to go and enjoy my boat.’
The original video, titled ‘Plain sailing x’, has more than 1.4 million views on social media.
In a follow-up video, Sophie blamed the mistake on direction-finding app Waze.
She said: ‘Waze really outdid itself this time, I’m literally on a boat.
‘It actually feels like I’m drunk because everything is spinning.’
But she later posted an update to confirm she had made it to her radio studio, adding: ‘It was a very, very dramatic and traumatic commute to work today, I’ll have you know.
‘Wouldn’t recommend, but I’m safe and fine and at work.’
According to the comments under her video, Sophie is far from the first unwilling passenger on the boat service.
In September 2021 Twitter user Jason made the same error, which he also blamed on Waze.
He wrote: ‘Waze is the worst map.
‘Now I have to explain to my friend that the reason I’m 2.5 hours late for brunch is because I ended up on a ferry…’
Earlier the same year, @itsshabs wrote: ‘I had no idea the Woolwich Ferry existed. When Waze directed me towards the river I thought it was trying to kill me.’
The popular navigation app allows users to avoid ferries under the navigation preferences menu.
Routes without other possible driver hang-ups such as toll roads and motorways can also be requested.
Metro.co.uk has contacted Waze for comment.
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