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Google Maps changes a route after the drama of young people lost on a ghost road

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Re: Google Maps changes a route after the drama of young people lost on a ghost road

#81

Post by JasonCEC »

This happened to me in the jungles of Indonesia.. [0] I literally followed google maps and rode my motorcycle into the jungle.

It started off a reasonable road and quickly became dangerous and then deadly. I rolled down the mountain side with the motorcycle and got very, very lucky that I was only mildly hurt (on top of the brutal sunburn I got on the ride). I ran into the local village (more like hobbled) and the first two people didn't believe that anyone could be stupid enough to do that (pantomiming because no one spoke English). I needed to find a teenage boy before anyone thought it plausible.

Happy to live to tell the tale, and I certainly won't be following maps blindly anymore.

[0] http://www.cultofquality.com/index.php/2018/02/on-glory-and-...

Re: Google Maps changes a route after the drama of young people lost on a ghost road

#82

Post by Allezxandre »

pluc wrote: post #37

Why would you trust an American company to map your route in Russia over a Russian company?

Because it advertises a shorter time to arrival?

This has been an issue with Google Maps for some time: being more optimistic than e.g. Apple Maps just so you use the service, as suggested by this article: https://arturgrabow.ski/2018/02/19/navigation-apps/

Re: Google Maps changes a route after the drama of young people lost on a ghost road

#83

Post by PopeDotNinja »

JasonCEC wrote: post #81

This happened to me in the jungles of Indonesia.. [0] I literally followed google maps and rode my motorcycle into the jungle. It started off a reasonable road and quickly became dangerous and then deadly. I rolled down the mountain side with the motorcycle and got very, very lucky that I was only mildly hurt (on top of the brutal sunburn I got on the ride). I ran into the local village (more like hobbled) and the fi…

Just yesterday I see drove onto a Google Maps recommended muddy dirt road road (like a dumbass) with my rental car just in the Mexican jungle. I thought I could make it, until I couldn’t. I got stuck in mud about 5km, walked through mud to the highway, and learned all about hitchhiking in Mexico, and asking locals for help getting my car unstuck. Good times.

Re: Google Maps changes a route after the drama of young people lost on a ghost road

#84

Post by kzrdude »

s0rce wrote: post #40
jdtang13 wrote: post #36

In all my years of using Google Maps, I have never seen any message like "we cannot recommend a route for the destination you have selected". Considering that human lives are at stake, the product owners should be more generous to acknowledge their lack of knowledge rather than cobbling together a route using outdated information. It is completely conceivable for an app to say: "we don't know, please use a different…

There are lots of obvious and not so obvious places where routes can't be calculated, for example, when asking for driving directions across the Darien Gap: "Sorry, we could not calculate driving directions from "San Francisco, California" to "Bogota, Colombia"" Although in theory you may be able to make it across by motorcycle overland, there aren't any roads and as such google maps doesn't plot a route through ther…

Kind of insane that there's still a gap there.

Re: Google Maps changes a route after the drama of young people lost on a ghost road

#85

Post by barrkel »

dr_orpheus wrote: post #21
ghaff wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US (especially in the West) there are a lot of roads that are seasonal and/or that should really only be tackled with appropriately equipped high-clearance 4WD with a driver who is familiar with driving under those conditions. Even a fairly straightforward off-paved road route like to the Racetrack in Death Valley, sees the local Jeep rental/tour company rescuing standard passenger car drivers all the time bec…

> because they get tire punctures with no or crappy rental car jacks, etc. (Or they change tires and the doughnut spare lasts for 5 minutes.) The sharp rocks of Death Valley and other super arid parts of Nevada was not something I had really thought about until I saw a picture of the car from one of my friends in Nevada. In addition to the normal full-size spare tire, there were two other tires stuck in the back of t…

Flint is one. Used as knives and axe heads in neolithic times. I've had a couple of motorcycle punctures from flint shards.

Re: Google Maps changes a route after the drama of young people lost on a ghost road

#87

Post by flukus »

bww wrote: post #53

On more than one occasion while driving through Italy last year, Google Maps attempted to navigate me to the center of cities by driving through ancient, pedestrian-packed streets barely wider than the hatchback I was in—even as (I eventually discovered) most non-emergency vehicles are not permitted to actually drive there. In one such instance, I didn't realize what was happening until I had spent 45 minutes inching…

This is the sort of thing I find OSM much better at, being an actual map and displaying this sort of up to date information, not to mention actually rendering street names and important landmarks instead of random businesses. Of course you have to navigate the old fashioned way.

If I want to find the nearest ice cream store open at 9pm use google maps, it's a great location database. If you want a map use OSM.

Re: Google Maps changes a route after the drama of young people lost on a ghost road

#88

Post by bavell »

JasonCEC wrote: post #81

This happened to me in the jungles of Indonesia.. [0] I literally followed google maps and rode my motorcycle into the jungle. It started off a reasonable road and quickly became dangerous and then deadly. I rolled down the mountain side with the motorcycle and got very, very lucky that I was only mildly hurt (on top of the brutal sunburn I got on the ride). I ran into the local village (more like hobbled) and the fi…

Rough lesson to learn first-hand but it probably won't be forgotten anytime soon! Glad you made it out okay.

Re: Google Maps changes a route after the drama of young people lost on a ghost road

#89

Post by Tostino »

PopeDotNinja wrote: post #83
JasonCEC wrote: post #81

This happened to me in the jungles of Indonesia.. [0] I literally followed google maps and rode my motorcycle into the jungle. It started off a reasonable road and quickly became dangerous and then deadly. I rolled down the mountain side with the motorcycle and got very, very lucky that I was only mildly hurt (on top of the brutal sunburn I got on the ride). I ran into the local village (more like hobbled) and the fi…

Just yesterday I see drove onto a Google Maps recommended muddy dirt road road (like a dumbass) with my rental car just in the Mexican jungle. I thought I could make it, until I couldn’t. I got stuck in mud about 5km, walked through mud to the highway, and learned all about hitchhiking in Mexico, and asking locals for help getting my car unstuck. Good times.

Had very similar fun in Costa Rica with my rental car and amazing Google Maps directions. Seems like a pattern.

Re: Google Maps changes a route after the drama of young people lost on a ghost road

#90

Post by kjs3 »

latchkey wrote: post #65

I'm sorry for their demise, but I'm kind of a fan of this 'feature' of Google Maps. Before covid, I spent 2 years on a motorbike (scooter) going all over Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. I had some epic epic adventures into some deeply remote areas that I wouldn't have been able to find at all without the "help" of Google Maps giving me bad directions. One of which was following what looked like a normal road out of town…

You're a fan of a 'feature' that doesn't do what it should and puts people in danger. I get you just took an opportunity to post a 'look at me and my cool adventure' thing, but why don't you just adapt Chaosmonkey or something to choosing your route and enjoy. Don't imply this is a good thing or other people should follow your example.
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