A fatal car accident leads to homicide case against Google Maps in Uttar Pradesh

The popular Google Maps came under major scrutiny after the navigation tool was held responsible for the death of three men in India. Earlier this week, three men died after their car veered off an unfinished bridge and fell onto a riverbed in Uttar Pradesh. While the matter is under investigation, the preliminary report suggested that Google Maps led the group to the doomed route.

As per the reports, a part of the bridge, where the accident took place, collapsed earlier this year due to heavy floods. While the locals were aware of the bridge collapse, the three men were new to the area and were not aware of the incident.

What made matters concerning was the fact that there were no barricades or sign boards indicating that the bridge was unfinished. Shortly after the incident, the UP police launched a case against four engineers from the state’s road department and an unnamed official from Google Maps.

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But can a navigation app be held responsible for the tragedy?

While speaking to BBC Hindi, a spokesperson from Google India said it was cooperating with the investigation. The tragic incident not only put a spotlight on India’s poor road infrastructure but also sparked a new debate on whether navigation apps like Google Maps share responsibility for such incidents.

While some blamed the app for not providing accurate information or any sort of warning about the unfinished bridge, many argued that the blame lies on the government for not cordoning off the area. It is pertinent to note that Google Maps is the most popular navigation app in India and has become synonymous with GPS (Global Positioning System), a satellite-based radio navigation system.

The navigation app also powers services of many ride-sharing, e-commerce and food delivery platforms in the country. According to BBC, the app reportedly has around 60 million active users and witnesses around 50 million searches a day.

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However, Google Maps has not been free from scrutiny for providing incorrect directions, sometimes leading to fatal accidents. This is not the first time that Google Maps has been blamed for fatal accidents.

In 2021, a man from Maharashtra state drowned after he drove his car into a dam, allegedly while following directions on the app. Last year, two doctors from Kerala, died after they drove their car into the river. During the investigation of the case, the police said that the doctors had been following a route shown by the app and cautioned people against relying on it too much when roads were flooded.

Can Google Maps be aware of changes in the road?

It is pertinent to note that GPS signals from users’ apps track traffic changes along routes. These signals increase in case of congestion. Meanwhile, the app also receives updates from governments and users about traffic jams or closures.

Ashish Nair, the founder of the mapping platform Potter Maps and a former Google Maps employee, told BBC that the app prioritises complaints related to high traffic or the ones notified by authorities. However, he pointed out that Google does not have the manpower to deal with millions of complaints that are streaming in every single day.

“A map operator then uses satellite imagery, Google Street View and government notifications to confirm the change and update the map,” Nair explained. He insisted that navigation apps cannot be held responsible for mishaps as their terms of service emphasise that users must apply their own judgement on the road and the information provided by the app might differ from actual conditions.

He noted that it is difficult for navigation apps like Google, which manages maps across the world, to be aware of every change that happens on a road.