{"id":1821733,"date":"2023-12-07T08:35:43","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T13:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1821733"},"modified":"2023-12-07T08:35:43","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T13:35:43","slug":"google-maps-sends-drivers-into-nevada-desert-after-interstate-closure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2023\/12\/google-maps-sends-drivers-into-nevada-desert-after-interstate-closure\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Maps Sends Drivers into Nevada Desert After Interstate Closure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month, after a dust storm shut down Interstate 15 between Las Vegas and Barstow, Google Maps sent drivers off-roading<\/a>, rerouting them via barely passable desert trails. Some were stuck for hours. Google has since apologized<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jalopnik<\/em> describes this<\/a> as yet another case of blindly following, but I think this is a more specific failure mode. Rerouting due to road closures or traffic jams opens up routes that the algorithm would normally deprecate, and catches more drivers unprepared. It\u2019s one thing when that means a quiet residential street gets an expressway\u2019s worth of traffic, quite another when the second best choice is a dirt track\u2014or a 500-mile detour. When the best answer the algorithm can give you is a bad one, it will still give you that answer.<\/p>\n

Previously: Man Dies After Driving Across Collapsed Bridge, Family Sues Google<\/a>; Google Rerouted Traffic Up Poorly Maintained Mountain Roads During a Blizzard<\/a>; Google Maps Called Out for Showing \u2018Potentially Fatal\u2019 Mountain Routes<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last month, after a dust storm shut down Interstate 15 between Las Vegas and Barstow, Google Maps sent drivers off-roading, rerouting them via barely passable desert trails. Some were stuck for hours. Google has since… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[110],"tags":[85,82],"class_list":["post-1821733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-map-errors","tag-driving-directions","tag-google-maps","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1805817,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2022\/01\/google-rerouted-traffic-up-poorly-maintained-mountain-roads-during-a-blizzard\/","url_meta":{"origin":1821733,"position":0},"title":"Google Rerouted Traffic Up Poorly Maintained Mountain Roads During a Blizzard","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"3 January 2022","format":"link","excerpt":"Last week, when a snowstorm closed Interstate 80 east of Sacramento, Google Maps started redirecting traffic up poorly maintained mountain roads, which is about as good an idea during a blizzard as it sounds. https:\/\/twitter.com\/pyrogeog\/status\/1475620399463292928 As SFGate reports, Other dispatches from Twitter allege that the service\u2014particularly its mobile app\u2014directed people\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Map Errors"","block_context":{"text":"Map Errors","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/map-errors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Screenshot of Google Maps showing driving directions in California","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pyrogeog-google-maps-blizzard-1024x568.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pyrogeog-google-maps-blizzard-1024x568.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pyrogeog-google-maps-blizzard-1024x568.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pyrogeog-google-maps-blizzard-1024x568.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1787501,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/07\/recent-google-maps-errors\/","url_meta":{"origin":1821733,"position":1},"title":"Recent Google Maps Errors","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"10 July 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"Map data is not perfect and users are too trusting. They believe maps to be accurate, and the map data that GPS receivers, online maps and smartphones rely on is riddled with a thousand insignificant errors that show up in unexpected cases. Whenever we read a story about some driver\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Map Errors"","block_context":{"text":"Map Errors","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/map-errors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1785744,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/06\/third-party-map-apps-coming-to-carplay-in-ios-12\/","url_meta":{"origin":1821733,"position":2},"title":"Third-Party Map Apps Coming to CarPlay in iOS 12","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"4 June 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"As of iOS 12, coming later this year, CarPlay will support third-party map applications like Google Maps and Waze, Apple announced during its WWDC keynote earlier today: AppleInsider, Engadget, The Verge. Up until now the only maps available via CarPlay were Apple's own; drivers who would rather use something else\u2014and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/mobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/carplay-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1788324,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/02\/99-smartphones-create-virtual-traffic-jam\/","url_meta":{"origin":1821733,"position":3},"title":"99 Smartphones Create Virtual Traffic Jam","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"4 February 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=k5eL_al_m7Q Simon Weckert created a virtual traffic jam in Berlin by pulling 99 used smartphones in a wagon: a large number of phones moving slowly looks like a traffic jam to Google Maps. \u201cThrough this activity, it is possible to turn a green street red which has an impact in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/mobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/k5eL_al_m7Q\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1818682,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2023\/09\/man-dies-after-driving-across-collapsed-bridge-family-sues-google\/","url_meta":{"origin":1821733,"position":4},"title":"Man Dies After Driving Across Collapsed Bridge, Family Sues Google","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"21 September 2023","format":"link","excerpt":"The family of a man who died after driving off a collapsed bridge is suing Google; they allege that despite multiple reports from users, Google Maps continued to mark the bridge in North Carolina, which partially collapsed in 2013, as passable, directing him and other drivers across it. The family\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Map Errors"","block_context":{"text":"Map Errors","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/map-errors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1789293,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/09\/an-apple-and-google-maps-roundup\/","url_meta":{"origin":1821733,"position":5},"title":"An Apple and Google Maps Roundup","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"14 September 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"Google Maps is now available on the Apple Watch as of version 5.52 of the iPhone app. Meanwhile, more is emerging about the behind-the-scenes mapping efforts of both Google and Apple. Google is using machine learning to predict traffic flows and improve ETA estimates (Engadget, The Verge). More prosaically, 9to5\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/mobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Google Maps on the Apple Watch (screenshot)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/google-maps-apple-watch-1024x294.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/google-maps-apple-watch-1024x294.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/google-maps-apple-watch-1024x294.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/google-maps-apple-watch-1024x294.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1821733"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1821740,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821733\/revisions\/1821740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1821733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1821733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1821733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}