Incorrect Google Maps Navigation Leads to Death of Three

According to SaedNews, the three men were driving when Google Maps directed them onto an incomplete bridge over the Ramganga River. Parts of the bridge had been washed away months earlier during a flood, and a construction company had begun rebuilding it.

The three men were traveling from Gurgaon to Uttar Pradesh, and it appears they did not notice the end of the bridge in time while driving at night, leading to the tragic accident.

Online images show a group of onlookers observing the heartbreaking scene from the edge of the structure, dozens of meters above the ground. Local authorities stated that the smartphone records of the three men showed they had been using Google Maps until the accident occurred. The victims' families criticized the lack of safety measures and demanded accountability. Pramod Kumar, the brother of one of the victims, told an Indian economic newspaper: "They were checking their route using Google Maps and fell from the incomplete bridge. The road should have been blocked, but it wasn't. Google Maps should not have shown the bridge as complete."

This is not the first time that Google Maps' navigation errors have led to fatal car accidents. Last year, the family of a North Carolina driver sued Google for negligence, claiming that the Google Maps service directed the driver to cross a collapsed bridge in 2022. The family claimed that updating the Google navigation system could have easily prevented the accident, as the bridge had collapsed nine years earlier and had not been repaired since.