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This Google Maps Screenshot Perfectly Shows How Awful 2020 Ended up Becoming

While humanity had worse moments to deal with in its history, there’s no doubt 2020 was one awful year for many of us, completely changing the way we do everything outside the safety of our own homes.
Screenshot showing the first lockdown in Italy 1 photo
Photo: reddit user WhaleString
Each and every one of us has been impacted in one way or another, and most industry sectors out there had to adapt in a way nobody was ever able to anticipate.

And since we’re here to talk about cars and technology, the automotive industry and the companies offering software aimed at drivers suddenly had to deal with a new world that just showed up overnight and which made little sense for them.

Few people were still driving given the lockdowns, almost nobody was using a navigation app because the traffic barely existed, and the gas prices collapsed because, you know, most cars weren’t leaving the parking lot in the first place.

And this Google Maps screenshot shows how everything started in Italy nearly one year ago. Codogno is the first Italian region that entered a full lockdown, and the data on Google Maps shows that every single road (well, with the exception of the one connecting the city to San Fiorano, though this one was also closed at a later time) was blocked by the police in an attempt to prevent traveling and stop the spreading of the invisible enemy nobody knew how to deal with.

There’s no doubt applications like Google Maps played a major role in this battle with the global health issue, and Google itself has been working around the clock to make its service as useful as possible for everybody out there.

For example, Google Maps has been updated with tons of information related to the pandemic. That includes the number of confirmed cases for each region, who to call if you’re having symptoms, busyness information for shops, and now vaccination locations all over the world.

In the end, this screenshot is the type of image we, as car fanatics, hope we’ll never see again. Roads are made to be driven on, and life is made to be enjoyed.
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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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