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Catching Satnav Errors On Google Street View

Posted by timothy on from the now-wait-3-months-for-the-ferry dept.

Barence writes "Most of the satnav companies allow users to report errors with their maps, but do they ever get fixed? PC Pro's Paul Ockenden uses Google StreetView to highlight glaring and dangerous flaws in Tele Atlas maps — which are used by TomTom and Google Maps itself — but the company has failed to respond to numerous reports of map errors posted over the course of several years. 'About half a mile from where I live, a Tele Atlas-based satnav will instruct you to turn off at a junction where there's only an on-ramp,' Ockenden reports. 'I've witnessed some confused and dangerous driving at this junction as people try to find the non-existent exit, so I wouldn't be surprised if major mapping errors like this are a danger to road safety.'"

9 of 312 comments (clear)

  1. Data Posioning.... by LostCluster · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Drive Southbound on Route 3 in MA with a route in your GPS that has you headed South on I-495, and you'll be presented with three routes that tell you to get off Route 3 well before I-495 despite the fact there's a perfectly good direct ramp there.

    How'd this happen? Your GPS is pre-programmed with the "fact" that that offramp is constantly backed up and therefore you should seek alternate routes. However, that's absolutely not true. How'd this mistaken info get there? Residents of the area intentionally caused traffic disruptions on the days years ago when GPS mapping companies were in the area so that people would be routed further away from their homes. The trick worked, and the mistaken info remains on the maps.

    There's got to be a better way to confirm the existence or non-existence of such must-avoid intersections.

    1. Re:Data Posioning.... by camperdave · · Score: 5, Interesting

      My dad will, when making a left turn on a particular red light, hang back about half a dozen car lengths back from the intersection. This tricks the system into thinking that there's a large lineup of cars in the left turn lane, which activates the advanced green. He then can make his left hand turn on his own private advanced green.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    2. Re:Data Posioning.... by Hays · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I find your claim a somewhat incredible. How did they know when these companies were coming? And then how did they cause traffic disruptions? Did the residents take turns parking on the road for hours on end? Did they fake car accidents? That seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through, with considerable risk of police intervention, just to reduce tourist traffic on a nearby highway. What is your source for this information?

    3. Re:Data Posioning.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I know you were being sarcastic, but just for shits I looked it up and Teleatlas has an office in Concord, MA.

      Concord Office
      150 Baker Ave Ext
      Concord, MA 01742

      There's only one explanation: Sabotage!

      Skewing the traffic data to make the commute to/from work faster.

      Hell, I'd do it.

  2. Re:User maps... by amaiman · · Score: 5, Informative

    Apps that do just that are starting to appear...Check out Waze if you haven't seen it yet. They've built entire country maps from scratch with their client (they started with a base map first in the U.S.)

  3. drive off a bridge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    When google maps first came to australia, i decided to have a look at the route from my wife's (then gf) house to my house. It mapped out a route that instructed me to drive off a bridge into a street below the bridge as the "shortest" route.

    In subsequent versions of that map it was corrected.

  4. Re:Swing and a miss... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    A penguin's car breaks down and he gets a tow to the nearest service station. The mechanic says he'll take a look and to check back in about an hour.

    Using Google Maps, the penguin quickly located a nearby ice cream parlor. Everybody knows that penguins just love ice cream. After an exhaustive search due to incorrect navigation, he was finally able to find the shop, which turned out to be right across the street. The penguin had just enough time for an ice cream cone before checking back with the mechanic.

    Upon returning, the mechanic stated, "Well, it looks like you blew a seal."

    And the penguin responded, "No, that's just a little ice cream."

  5. Re:Swing and a miss... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or start an ice cream shop wherever Google says there is one.

  6. Klingon GPS by TheStatsMan · · Score: 5, Funny

    Driver: Hm, where is my turn...
    Michael Dorn GPS: Prepare to turn right.
    Driver: But there's no exit here....
    GPS: Accelerate to ramming speed.
    Driver: Good thing I took the Prius...
    GPS: Today is a good day to die!