Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution/Google
Google Maps is again blamed for a tragic accident, this time involving five people who were traveling home from a party.
It happened in India, where a car, which, according to some witnesses, was traveling very fast, took a wrong turn based on the directions provided by Google Maps. The driver couldn't see the road due to the heavy rain, and instead of turning left, they turned right, plunging into a river at Gothuruth.
A local noticed the vehicle, alerted his neighbors, and called the emergency teams. A few residents jumped into the water, trying to get the passengers out of the vehicle, eventually managing to save three of the five people. Two doctors drowned, and rescuers pulled their bodies out of the water in the morning.
All three survivors were rushed to the hospital and are now stable. They claim the driver turned right, following Google Maps' directions, believing he was following the correct route. He couldn't spot the river because of the lights in front of the car, which reportedly came from a temple on the other side. Due to the heavy rain, the driver couldn't see the temple's location, so the vehicle plunged into the deep water.
It's unclear if Google Maps is at fault for the incident or if the car was going too fast and the driver couldn't see the road clearly. Some local reports claim the driver missed a turn (correctly indicated by Maps) and tried to turn around, eventually plunging into the river.
Google has yet to comment on the claims.
If misused, Google Maps can become a double-edged sword, as the application helps users find their destinations faster, easier, and safer. However, a sat-nav solution, be it Google Maps, Waze, Apple Maps, or any other application, can provide a wrong route because it's unaware of road conditions 100 percent of the time.
Navigation apps sometimes suggest going on flooded roads or damaged bridges, mainly because they're unaware of the actual road conditions. As a result, drivers must always pay attention to what's happening in front of the car and never trust sat-nav solutions blindly.
Drivers should also ignore suggested routes that don't seem appropriate for their vehicles (for example, don't use snow-covered roads or under-construction routes looking dangerous; unpaved and narrow country roads could also be dangerous, especially if you drive a larger vehicle, in which case you must use appropriate sat-nav software).
Authorities also recommend drivers keep their eyes on the road and follow the street signage, ignoring navigation apps. The Indian police have now raised barricades to block other motorists from plunging into the bridge by following the same route in Google Maps until the directions are correctly updated in the app.
A local noticed the vehicle, alerted his neighbors, and called the emergency teams. A few residents jumped into the water, trying to get the passengers out of the vehicle, eventually managing to save three of the five people. Two doctors drowned, and rescuers pulled their bodies out of the water in the morning.
All three survivors were rushed to the hospital and are now stable. They claim the driver turned right, following Google Maps' directions, believing he was following the correct route. He couldn't spot the river because of the lights in front of the car, which reportedly came from a temple on the other side. Due to the heavy rain, the driver couldn't see the temple's location, so the vehicle plunged into the deep water.
It's unclear if Google Maps is at fault for the incident or if the car was going too fast and the driver couldn't see the road clearly. Some local reports claim the driver missed a turn (correctly indicated by Maps) and tried to turn around, eventually plunging into the river.
Google has yet to comment on the claims.
If misused, Google Maps can become a double-edged sword, as the application helps users find their destinations faster, easier, and safer. However, a sat-nav solution, be it Google Maps, Waze, Apple Maps, or any other application, can provide a wrong route because it's unaware of road conditions 100 percent of the time.
Navigation apps sometimes suggest going on flooded roads or damaged bridges, mainly because they're unaware of the actual road conditions. As a result, drivers must always pay attention to what's happening in front of the car and never trust sat-nav solutions blindly.
Drivers should also ignore suggested routes that don't seem appropriate for their vehicles (for example, don't use snow-covered roads or under-construction routes looking dangerous; unpaved and narrow country roads could also be dangerous, especially if you drive a larger vehicle, in which case you must use appropriate sat-nav software).
Authorities also recommend drivers keep their eyes on the road and follow the street signage, ignoring navigation apps. The Indian police have now raised barricades to block other motorists from plunging into the bridge by following the same route in Google Maps until the directions are correctly updated in the app.
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