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Google Maps User Calls for New Feature After Getting Mugged on Unsafe Street

Google Maps is a great navigation app that makes reaching a specific destination so much easier, and this doesn’t apply just to cars.
Google Maps walking directions 6 photos
Photo: Google
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The app also supports other means of transportation, so you can also receive directions when walking across a city.

But someone on Reddit claims using the walking directions isn’t necessarily a good idea because of one major Google Maps shortcoming: the app doesn’t know if the streets you’re being routed on are safe or not.

And the living example in this regard is nothing else but her own experience, as the woman says she used Google Maps to walk across Sevilla, Spain.

I moved to Sevilla in Spain this week, and I was walking back to my Airbnb from the supermarket. Because it was my first day there I used Google Maps for the route back,” she explains.

The navigation app, however, sent her to a bad neighborhood where someone tried to steal her purse.

A man ran up to me and grabbed my purse. When I didn’t let go, he kicked my head in until I gave up,” she explains.

Both the hospital staff and police told the woman it was very dangerous to walk across that neighborhood, so now she’s hoping Google Maps would be updated with a new feature to help prevent similar incidents in the future.

Of course, Google marking certain streets as dangerous isn’t necessarily something that can be done easily, especially because the whole thing is very subjective in the first place. On the other hand, what Google can do is to suggest routes that are more common among those walking in certain regions, therefore preventing people from reaching unsafe streets in the first place.

At the end of the day, if the streets Google Maps tells you to use don’t look safe, you’d better just avoid them. Stick to streets where you’re not walking alone, and you should be fine.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
Bogdan Popa profile photo

Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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