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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

#251

Post by visarga »

kunkurus wrote: post #133
anm89 wrote: post #59

I had a few similar situations while riding a motorcycle through Peru. https://andrew-max.github.io/adventure/2017/03/24/huamachuco... Google maps would reroute me around perfectly good highways because some goat trail somewhere was technically a shorter path although the reality was that they were 10x longer because of how difficult the terrain would be and if you were to brake down on any of those roads, you would…

Had a similar experience in rural Romania. Google recommended a shorter path but the trip was longer because the road was an abandoned one. The average speed was ~10-15Km/h.

It happens in the cities as well - recommending narrow streets instead of main roads which are much easier and possibly faster.

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

#252

Post by AmericanChopper »

meowster wrote: post #233
colejohnson66 wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IANAL, but would it be possible to sue Google (in small claims) over the nuisance?

What are the monetary damages, and how can you prove Google caused the damage?

Seeking damages seems silly, but I’m sure that’s something you could get a court to order Google to change.

Technically you could make the argument that the map directions are incitement/solicitation to commit a crime. But I doubt you’d get a prosecutor to pick up that case.

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

#253

Post by dawnerd »

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…

This is why I desperately want a routing mode for 'easiest' drive. Surface streets only, no left turns onto busy highways just to save a minute, no weird shortcuts through neighborhoods, keep me on the highway. I've had so many times where google has had me drive through sketch areas of LA which ended up taking more time dealing with cross traffic. All they have to do is give up on quickest route.

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

#254

Post by ageofwant »

meowster wrote: post #232
ckdarby wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of people with their Android phones will still go over that section with their snowmobiles, four-wheelers, bike, etc. How does Google tell the difference between someone on an electric bike vs a car going on a dirt road doing 20-30km/h to not have rocks flying everywhere?

Obviously we need to have Google connect our cars to the internet so they have more data points. And we also need Google to connect our bikes to the internet, that way Google can tell the different between a bike and a car. And we need to prevent the bike from being able to be used if the Google tech isn't charged and working, because it would be dangerous for everyone else if Google thought that person was in a car…

You jest, but in time this will be true, not because of Google, but insurance requirements. Same for autonomous cars. You would still be able to drive your car yourself, if you can afford the insurance, and you won't.

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

#255

Post by gwillen »

throwaway09223 wrote: post #64

I ran into a surprising problem with Google maps recently. "Ok Google, driving directions to Fremont Central Park" Google locates the park address as 40000 Paseo Padre Pkwy, Fremont 94538. The pin is dropped in a fine place, at the building by the Lake Elizabeth boat ramp. I mostly know where I'm going anyway, and as I come up Washington Blvd I notice it's asking me to turn early, so I follow just for kicks. Inexplic…

I suspect I know the cause of this -- there was a change to Google Maps not long ago, related to how it computes destination points when your destination is a large area (such as a large park.) It used to try to take you to the official address, or some central point; these days, what I observe is that it takes you to _some_ point where the road hits the edge of the destination area. I'm not sure how it chooses what point, but it looks like it missed.

(Note: I don't work for Google, and haven't for many years. I mostly noticed this change because it finally fixed a longstanding directions issue that I first reported ABOUT TEN YEARS AGO, involving directions to the Pittsburgh International Airport.)

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

#256

Post by thraway12 »

Thorrez wrote: post #250
Hydraulix989 wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Google is anything like other companies, internal employees' own support requests are prioritized, even on external-facing channels.

That would require you to create some association between your personal and work account right? I don't remember doing that. I guess they could match on first name and last name equality, but that sounds like a bad idea due to name collisions and impersonation.

>"That would require you to create some association between your personal and work account right?"

Obtuse af. Is this default assumption that the user is the one who has to "create" associations in the company's systems based on anything? The big tech cos have been social mapping since before 2012 and they undoubtedly register when two accounts use the same IP.

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

#257

Post by Thorrez »

thraway12 wrote: post #256
Thorrez wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would require you to create some association between your personal and work account right? I don't remember doing that. I guess they could match on first name and last name equality, but that sounds like a bad idea due to name collisions and impersonation.

>"That would require you to create some association between your personal and work account right?" Obtuse af. Is this default assumption that the user is the one who has to "create" associations in the company's systems based on anything? The big tech cos have been social mapping since before 2012 and they undoubtedly register when two accounts use the same IP.

So if I work from a coffeeshop all the other coffeeshop patrons would be considered Google employees?

Creating a system to secretly map my work account and my personal account in order to prioritize my Maps suggestions seems like a huge amount of work for no benefit whatsoever.

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

#258

Post by konschubert »

random5634 wrote: post #3

Here's a link with an image of the highway of bones: https://elpais.com/internacional/2020-12-23/perdidos-en-la-t... Here is a video of a drive along it between the cities mentioned in the article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J46vglp6g98 Insane cold in this area - I'd be curious what type of preparation they had for this, and why not turn back if things were impassable? Google in the USA maps lots of roads that a…

Google suggested a side road apparently: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25574961

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

#259

Post by abeppu »

paulmd wrote: post #245
gruez wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What regulator would have jurisdiction here? Are maps even regulated?

A very flippant "HN techbro libertarian" response. Pretty much everything that is not constitutionally protected as a right can be regulated, why would you possibly think that it couldn't? Yes, you absolutely could lobby for someone to write a law requiring Google to respond to nuisance requests from their navigation services. That is basically what DMCA does, after all. Hypothetical example law: OK, you have a good-…

You've said that stuff which isn't constitutionally protected _can_ be regulated, but the question posed was _are_ maps regulated. Are they? What legal obligation to accuracy or comprehensiveness are map-makers bound by? And are maps constitutionally protected? If political donations are speech then maps certainly seem like speech.

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

#260

Post by alexott »

dr_orpheus wrote: post #10
random5634 wrote: post #3

Here's a link with an image of the highway of bones: https://elpais.com/internacional/2020-12-23/perdidos-en-la-t... Here is a video of a drive along it between the cities mentioned in the article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J46vglp6g98 Insane cold in this area - I'd be curious what type of preparation they had for this, and why not turn back if things were impassable? Google in the USA maps lots of roads that a…

From this link posted in another comment it says "The two travelers - not dressed for extreme cold - evidently took a wrong turn and their car got damaged". So it does not seem to be because google suggested the incorrect route. https://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/tragedy-in-yakut... Edit: It was pointed out in the comments below that Google maps does go on the correct route now. It is the same general road,…

First rule of traveling there is never travel on one car/bus. There are so many stories about that, including a dozens of people frozen when a bus broke in the middle of nowhere
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