Posted on 11/26/2024 11:48:11 AM PST by Red Badger
Three men died after their car, misled by Google Maps, drove off an unfinished bridge in India
Three men tragically died after their car, following Google Maps directions, plunged off an unfinished bridge into a river in India.
The victims were traveling from Gurugram to Bareilly to attend a wedding when they relied on Google Maps for navigation.
The app directed them onto an under-construction flyover, which had collapsed in 2022 due to flooding.
The bridge remained incomplete without warning signs or barricades to indicate danger or a closure, Hindustan Times reported.
The car fell 50 feet into the Ramganga River in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district. Locals discovered the accident the following morning.
"At around 9:30 am, we were informed about a damaged car found in the Ramganga river," a police official said. "Our team discovered a Wagon R, suspected to be a taxi, that had fallen from the incomplete bridge. The bodies of the victims were recovered and sent for post-mortem."
Two victims were identified as brothers Vivek and Amit Kumar. The third individual was their friend, Ajit Kumar.
The victims' families have accused local authorities of negligence for failing to secure the site and have demanded a formal investigation.
In response, authorities launched an investigation, focusing on the lack of proper signage and safety measures around the bridge. Google has expressed condolences and pledged to work with local officials to address the issue.
"Our deepest sympathies go out to the families," a Google spokesperson told Futurism. "We're working closely with the authorities and providing our support to investigate the issue."
I live in hill country that is a recreation area for rich folk from the city and they’re always getting lost out here expecting GPS to work. Big RVs towing a trailer so they can’t turn around either.
Back when GPS was just becoming a thing for the general public, I bought a Rand McNally package which consisted of a CD you'd upload to a laptop, and a GPS antenna that plugged into a USB port.
It surprisingly worked quite well, and having a bigger laptop screen sitting on the front passenger seat was actually much easier to read than the little tiny Garmans being sold at the time.
It did; however, on one occasion, route me along what I could only describe as a jeep trail across private property.
Fortunately, I had a Jeep :-)
They couldn't very well finish it if they couldn't access it!
Because there was a ruler literally an inch from my hand when I read this, I measured. On my screen shot, the people were about 1 centimeter tall, from the bridge deck to the river bed was 7 centimeters. So it was probably about 40'.
The problem is there is no water in that river. It would have softened the fall...../s
100k? What? Are you still living in 1960?
Awful country.
Garmin tries to steer people going to our home down a non-existent road in the forest. I’ve tried it, it wants us to drive into a ditch adjacent to a forest.
The last ambulance call to our place used GPS navigation and it took them 1 1/2 hours to find our place. We live 15 minutes from the ambulance station. They wound up in a different county and the cops had to go find them.
“the budget”
I’ve been to India. Trust me when I tell you that any household in India that had a net worth of 100,000 US dollars is richer that 99.999% of the country’s households.
A few years back, same thing. Bridge out, never repaired, not blocked off, Google maps, guy was driving at night, went into the river and died.
In fact it is so close that I kind of question what is going on here.
I’ve had multiple experiences with GPS systems that sent me on wild goose chases, usually in circles. I was a FedEx driver for a time many years ago, so I still know how to find places. And, I still use paper maps, and they work just fine.
Many people fail to realize that car websites have links to update their GPS systems.
My drive way and the road they are supposed to turn on to haven’t moved in 70 years
It’s not a map issue. It’s an idiot issue.
“What do you expect us at Google to do? We revoked our slogan ‘Don’t be evil’ years ago. Sorry not sorry.”
Makes me wonder how many don’t reach their destination. With scenarios like this, a dead-end bridge seems like a relatively small problem.
That’s what came to my mind. One of the most underrated movies.
Until the monsoons come.
And that Idiocracy visual is what an Indian city (like Calcutta, or Kolkata) looks like.
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