EXPERTS warn that bugs in navigation apps like Google Maps may be leading people down a dangerous path, literally.
Ever since the rise of GPS apps, traveling to and from places has never been easier.
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However, there have been growing concerns that the best route offered by such systems may not always be the safest route due to oversights or glitches.
According to a Twitter thread written by Dr. Crystal A. Kolden, a pyrogeographer at UC Merced, Google maps was routing people up a road in California that is often dangerous during the wintertime due to intense weather conditions.
“This is an abject failure. You are sending people up a poorly maintained forest road to their death in a severe blizzard,” Dr. Kolden wrote.
“Hire people who can address winter storms in your code (or maybe get some of your engineers who are stuck in Tahoe right now on it),” she added.
Even though a terrible storm had just hit the area, Google Maps still showed the route as the ‘best’ option.
Another Twitter user replied under the thread asking if that route was the first recommendation Google Maps offered.
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“First recommendation. I’m not traveling; just wanted to see if they had addressed it a full 36 hours after every highway in the Sierra closed due to snow. I saw some very concerning tweets,” Dr. Kolden replied.
Normally, whenever companies like Google get word that a bug is passing through the codes and app updates of its services, the developers are usually on it pretty quickly.
Still, despite how rare these types of glitches are for Google Maps, Dr. Kolden’s comments, as well as other Twitter users’ replies, highlight how they can send people directly into harm’s way when they do occur.
And although no one was harmed in this specific instance, experts advise that in situations like this it is best to consult with several navigation apps, as well as local weather advisories to avoid getting lost or injured.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
