Google Maps Fooled Me: Man Takes Wrong Turn And Falls In A River, Blames Google Maps

Google Maps for many is a boon -- if it accurately takes you from one place to another. During Google Maps¡¯ initial days in India, the navigation was not as accurate as it is today, which is quite amazing to think how far the navigation-based service has improved.

But still, on rare occasions, a hit and a miss for the navigation app isn't unusual, and one man claims he nearly drowned in a freezing Mississippi river because of a glitch on Google Maps.

Reuters

A man from Minneapolis, US, is furious with Google Maps for seemingly directing him to cross the frozen Mississippi river on foot. As per local news media, the incident took place at 3:00 AM where the man, following directions from the navigation app, walked through the river and eventually fell through the ice. He got partially submerged in freezing water, only to be later rescued by firefighters.

When firefighters asked him why did he attempt this dangerous act, he blamed Google Maps stating it showed him the way and asked it to cross the river. The incident took place at Stone Arch Bridge. The man has suffered from a mild case of hypothermia and is under medical attention as of now.

As per reports, upon further investigation, the fire department revealed that the app actually told him to cross the water through the bridge over the river (as was shown on Street View of Maps) but he instead thought its instructing him to walk on ice.

Google

Glitches are not uncommon in navigation apps, however, these apps are designed to only show routes with actual paths/ roads as opposed to asking you to cross the sea -- whether frozen or unfrozen.

The timing of this incident couldn¡¯t be worse, as recently, Google Maps celebrated its 15-year anniversary, where it completely revamped the mobile app¡¯s user interface as well as a new Maps logo.