Google Maps mistakenly tells German drivers that roads across the country are closed
Chaos occurred on German roads this week after Google Maps mistakenly informed drivers that highways across the country were closed during busy holidays. Many apparently closed roads are located in major German cities and metropolitan areas, including Berlin, Düsseldorf and Dortmund.
As reported by local journalists drivers who open Google's navigation app will see a bunch of red dots to indicate that there is no arrival in the area, which leads people to search for alternative routes that lead to traffic pileup nationwide. guardian It was also reported that people contacted police and local authorities who were confused (possibly angry) about the so-called stagnation.
To make the problem more complicated, Google Maps errors began with the public holiday of the German Ascension on May 29, meaning that the roads were even busier than usual.
The issue reportedly lasted only a few hours, and by Thursday afternoon, showing only the real road. It is unclear whether Google Maps has just broken down or whether it is to blame for something more evil. “The information in Google Maps comes from a variety of sources. Information such as location, street names, borders, traffic data and road networks come from a combination of third-party providers, public resources and user input,” a Google spokesperson told German newspapers. adding that it is reviewing the issue internally. “In general, these data provide a solid foundation for comprehensive and up-to-date maps.”
Technical issues with Google Maps are not uncommon. Back in March, their timeline (tracking all the places you visited before for future reference) was wiped, and Google later confirmed that some people did delete their data and in some cases it would not be possible to recover it.
