Photo: Rebecca Fox/CornwallLive
A removal van that has recently ended up completely stuck in a narrow street is living proof that Google Maps (and obviously other navigation apps as well) need a major update that would let them take into account vehicle dimensions when generating routes.
But first things first.
The driver of a removal van from Worcestershire traveled to St. Ives to the location of a customer when they ended up on Barnoon Hill, a super-narrow street where only regular passenger cars typically fit.
The driver eventually noticed the narrow, steep street and tried to go in reverse, only to end up completely stuck when the vehicle hit the wall of a house near the Barbara Hepworth Museum.
In case you’re wondering what this has to do with Google Maps, it turns out the van driver was using a navigation app to find the location of the customer. No names have been provided, but there’s a very good chance they were using either Google Maps or Waze, as these are typically the preferred choices when it comes to navigation solutions on both Android and iPhone.
However, most navigation apps, including Google Maps, only provide navigation instructions for passenger cars without taking into account vehicle dimensions. In other words, if you drive a removal van, relying on the navigation route offered by Google Maps isn’t by any means a good idea, as the app can send you to a road where the vehicle doesn’t fit.
Truck and RV navigation in Google Maps has long been a highly requested feature, but so far, the Mountain View-based search giant has remained completely tight-lipped on any plan related to such an update.
The good news is that Google Maps alternatives with truck navigation support do exist, including the super-advanced solution from Sygic. But of course, most people unknowingly use Google Maps for this purpose, and this is how they end up getting stuck on roads where they shouldn’t be in the first place.
The driver of a removal van from Worcestershire traveled to St. Ives to the location of a customer when they ended up on Barnoon Hill, a super-narrow street where only regular passenger cars typically fit.
The driver eventually noticed the narrow, steep street and tried to go in reverse, only to end up completely stuck when the vehicle hit the wall of a house near the Barbara Hepworth Museum.
In case you’re wondering what this has to do with Google Maps, it turns out the van driver was using a navigation app to find the location of the customer. No names have been provided, but there’s a very good chance they were using either Google Maps or Waze, as these are typically the preferred choices when it comes to navigation solutions on both Android and iPhone.
However, most navigation apps, including Google Maps, only provide navigation instructions for passenger cars without taking into account vehicle dimensions. In other words, if you drive a removal van, relying on the navigation route offered by Google Maps isn’t by any means a good idea, as the app can send you to a road where the vehicle doesn’t fit.
Truck and RV navigation in Google Maps has long been a highly requested feature, but so far, the Mountain View-based search giant has remained completely tight-lipped on any plan related to such an update.
The good news is that Google Maps alternatives with truck navigation support do exist, including the super-advanced solution from Sygic. But of course, most people unknowingly use Google Maps for this purpose, and this is how they end up getting stuck on roads where they shouldn’t be in the first place.
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