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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

#151

Post by manigandham »

AlotOfReading wrote: post #129
manigandham wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest problem is blind trust in the system. This is how we get stories of people trusting GPS directions and driving straight into lakes. Taking a few minutes to zoom out and check the actual maps in terrain view would save most people on these journeys.

That wouldn't necessarily help in the given example. Desert stream beds often look very similar to roads on satellite and furthermore, data rates are abysmal in most of these places. You frequently can't load much beyond the cached basemap to check.

You can check the road surface, see the surrounding terrain, check for any signs or intersections or proximity to structures, etc. At the very least, you should zoom out enough to check that your path actually ends up going to your destination.

If you don't have data access then Google Maps routing won't help much either. It all comes down to offline/hard maps, situational awareness, and basic wayfinding to get through these areas safely.

EDIT: what are people disagreeing with here?

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

#152

Post by latchkey »

kjs3 wrote: post #90
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.

Calm down. Everything I said was personal experience about something I really enjoy. I never 'implied' anything.

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

#153

Post by s0rce »

bumbada wrote: post #98

There is something I don't understand. A radiator is not necessary for a car to work, specially in a freezing place. A radiator is needed to refrigerate the engine. In a very cold place the engine is refrigerated just by natural convention. Probably you will have to stop and open the car hood from time to time. Without globes touching metal could be dangerous, but it is strange. Traveling to very cold places,what you…

That's an interesting point, I tried to search but I couldn't find any examples. Can you really run a watercooled engine without coolant or a radiator in arctic (-40 to -50C ambient temperatures?). Its not like an air cooled engine designed for natural convection.

Seems like at the very least they could run the engine as long as possible until its about to overheat, then turn it off and it will very quickly return to operable temperatures in the very cold conditions. Certainly better than dying outside in Siberia!

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

#154

Post by ivanhoe »

Google maps pulled a plenty of tricks like this on me in Croatia, luckily our climate is warmer so you just end up wasting some time driving around, while navigation takes you to peoples backyards or suggests to take the turn right into the thick forest bushes, no road in sight whatsoever (probably there was some trail there long time ago, but got overtaken by woods many years ago). In certain areas this happens like all the time, rendering the navigation completely useless. They seem to slowly fix these glitches, but accent is on slowly...

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

#155

Post by latchkey »

yborg wrote: post #115
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…

Why would you need Google Maps for this? Start following a road in the general direction of where you are going and just guess on turns if you want an adventure.

Asking why I had a map? Because I don't have a death wish.

Telling people how to have their own adventure seems like something a keyboard warrior would do...

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

#156

Post by cmroanirgo »

nicoburns wrote: post #128
slickrick216 wrote: post #126

Google maps has marked my parents in laws drive way as a road. The drive way is quite long as they are on a farm. Due to a right of way for an owner of a field who owns an enclave within their land they can’t put a gate up. It’s quite unmistakable you are going into someone’s house though. This has led to countless individuals showing up and driving through their land past their home. Lots of people stop and ask for…

It seems like the obvious solution to this would be a large sign at the entrance to the driveway.

It happens all over in my country, Australia. My neighbor has signs, I've petitioned Maps several times that it's private property and nope: ignored.

A friend of mine just bought a property in regional Australia, and Maps wants to send anyone going to going to his place via forestry roads and then across two private properties to get there, despite having main road access.

Once in another part of Oz, we were sent up a cliff face, in the middle of the night, and it took an hour and a half to correct it's mistake.

Every time I try and "fix" maps by reporting it, and very very very rarely is it fixed

Another property has two "crown roads" on it, but to all purposes, they're very dangerous 4wd trails, again thru private property. The owner has signs, but the belligerent and unaware swear by the Goog, insisting it's correct.

I prefer paper maps over the Google rubbish.

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

#157

Post by rz2k »

slickrick216 wrote: post #126

Google maps has marked my parents in laws drive way as a road. The drive way is quite long as they are on a farm. Due to a right of way for an owner of a field who owns an enclave within their land they can’t put a gate up. It’s quite unmistakable you are going into someone’s house though. This has led to countless individuals showing up and driving through their land past their home. Lots of people stop and ask for…

Have you tried looking at Open Street Maps? If your county's GIS and OSM both exclude their driveway, it might be easier to get Google to update.

In my area, it sees like some of the driveways have turned into roads because of overly helpful contributors.

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

#158

Post by vulcan01 »

slickrick216 wrote: post #126

Google maps has marked my parents in laws drive way as a road. The drive way is quite long as they are on a farm. Due to a right of way for an owner of a field who owns an enclave within their land they can’t put a gate up. It’s quite unmistakable you are going into someone’s house though. This has led to countless individuals showing up and driving through their land past their home. Lots of people stop and ask for…

> I’ve done the whole google maps support thing but no response and deaf ears.

Cue Googler who will find this comment and magically fix this problem. The HN effect.

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

#159

Post by cmroanirgo »

s0rce wrote: post #144
neffy wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like the obvious solution to this would be for Google to provide a sensible way to accept corrections to their maps. We had to get a change made to Google maps to prevent people getting killed here, and it took national news, and personal contacts within the organisation. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

In the US its pretty easy to submit corrections. I've submitted a few corrections on US public lands but now I usually don't bother and just update open street map instead.

I have submitted many glaring fixes, often multiple times for when it continues to be a problem, over months... and almost never is it fixed.

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

#160

Post by tartoran »

gbh444g wrote: post #125
hirundo wrote: post #34

Travelling from Durango Colorado to Reserve New Mexico, Google Maps routed me to a "road" that was simply a dry stream bed, in the middle of Navajo Nation, in high desert wilderness, many miles from human habitation. It happened gradually. First I was directed to a well maintained gravel road, then to dirt track, which forked and forked and slowly faded to nothing. I was driving a 4x4, had an almost full tank, a load…

Ha. I think I have an even better story. Near Salt Lake City there's something like an island with two roads connecting it to the mainland: one on the north and the other on the south. My plan was to drive to the island via its north road (paved and well maintained) and at sunset leave the island via the south road. I got suspicious when in complete darkness the rather narrow road across a weird desert-like substance…

Glad you didn’t get stuck there overnight and your adventure turned out fun after all. You wouldn’t have the bizons otherwise and you probably learned your lesson not to ‘explore’ dirt roads at night. I’ve learned my lesson a while as well
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