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Israeli Troops Who Relied On Waze Blundered Into Deadly Palestinian Firefight (washingtonpost.com)

Posted by yaelk on from the fast-but-dangerous dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Israeli forces mounted a rescue mission in a Palestinian neighborhood after gun battles erupted when two soldiers mistakenly entered the area because of an error on a satellite navigation app, Israeli authorities said Tuesday.The clashes late Monday in the Qalandiya refugee camp outside Jerusalem left at least one Palestinian dead and 10 injured, one seriously. According to initial Israeli reports, the two soldiers said they had been using Waze, a highly touted Israeli-invented navigation app bought more than two years ago by Google. The smartphone app, which has a settings option to 'avoid dangerous areas,' relies on crowdsourcing to give users the fastest traffic routes.

5 of 199 comments (clear)

  1. umm by darkitecture · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you're relying on a commercial and/or free app or program for life-or-death situations, I think you're doing it wrong. If said option is the only option, then you have to take it at face value and accept some self-responsibility. I'm not going to trust my life to crowdsourcing for surgery or medication, so why would I trust my life to crowdsourcing for navigating near a war zone?

  2. There's your problem right. there. by hey! · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you're using crowdsourcing to figure out the safe way to go, someone's got to be the first one to report a hazard.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  3. Waze doesn't seem to have "avoid dangerous areas" by SuperKendall · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I just looked through my Waze settings and I don't see "avoid dangerous areas", does that just show as an option for some third world places like Palestine or NYC?

    The closest thing I found was "avoid dirt roads"

    It seems Waze is sadly lacking the option to mark a hazard for "active firefight".

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  4. What error? by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 5, Insightful

    two soldiers mistakenly entered the area because of an error on a satellite navigation app

    And what was this supposed "error"?

    According to the article (or at least, the most informative quotes in the article), the "dangerous places" setting was switched off and the driver wasn't actually on the Waze-suggested route.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  5. give it a few more years of Isreali resetlement by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    policy and the map will be correct!