Why you should definitely not always listen to Google Maps

“Turn right”. If Google says so, you should always scratch your head. Do you really have to turn around, is there only a turn in the road or is there another option? An Australian family has learned that Google Maps is very useful for getting anywhere, but also a dangerous tool for getting anywhere.

Australia

Getting lost in the Netherlands or Belgium in a way that you miss for days is almost clever. In the outback of Australia? There is a piece of cake to lose. To die too, so always have enough water and food in your car when you ride in Australia. Plus, a good old street book is probably not a superfluous luxury, because then you don’t have to experience what an Australian family went through.

Autoevolution wrote that a 27-year-old woman, with her two children, aged two and four, as well as her 50-year-old mother, got into the car to drive from Queensland to Adelaide. Nothing too exciting per se, more Australians are doing it, but after leaving the Noccundra Hotel, nothing is heard from the group soon.

Google Maps

They got stuck in no man’s land with their SUVs. It was because the 27-year-old woman who drove the car followed everything described by Google Maps with great enthusiasm. Google Maps thought it was a good idea not to use the highway and the woman sailing down a dirt road. However, the car did not agree. The car was stuck and there was no cell phone signal. At that time, the ladies decided to go for a walk with the children, but after hours of unsuccessful walking they returned to the car.

The hope was that someone (and thus the family, too) would find the car. They even put the letters “help” on the floor with clothes. This was a good thing, because in the end they were spotted by a helicopter. They had neither food nor water, but they were all rescued in time. Fortunately, because this could have gone completely wrong.

be responsible

Was it a Google Maps bug? Not really: he just decided to choose a faster route to the final destination. Of course, it is always up to the driver to know exactly what that route entails and to assess whether the vehicle is suitable for that route. Although such a situation may not happen so quickly in the Netherlands or Belgium, sometimes we have to deal with other tensions in Google Maps. For example, Google Maps does not always know what the exact bike path is and does not always warn about steep sections, such as the case around Maastricht and Valkenburg. So always judge for yourself whether you’re on the right track, or whether a detour that might cost you a few extra minutes isn’t better.

Thanks for the tip, Ronald!