Aren't the differences between "satnav sent him the wrong way on the motorway", "directions he'd memorize from his cousin's hand-written wedding invitation sent him the wrong way...", and "he just drove in his lane - didn't brake or swerve or anything - as the wrong-way car plowed into him at 250km/h" merely matters of perspective?

That said, I think there's another effect here. If a person feels unfamiliar with a situation, and a confident-sounding human voice - which the person knows is an expert - tells that person to do something, then there's a very strong human cognitive bias toward just doing as the "expert" says. 99.9% of the time, disobeying will end badly. And just how lucky are you feeling - about being able to outsmart the expert, on the spot, in a situation you are not familiar with - and that ending well?