Google Maps can be very useful. Before it became a common app on mobile devices, drivers had to rely on printed maps as well as directions from various sources, including friends they were visiting and random strangers on the street.
Driver: “Excuse me, can you give me directions to Club Mahindra Resort?”
Random stranger: “Yes. Keep driving straight for one kilometer, then make a left at the second traffic light, then stay on the right as the road forms a ‘Y’ and drive for another kilometer until you see the house with the barking dog. Make a right there, then a left after the coconut tree and keep going until you see another random stranger who can direct you further.”
If you were making a long-distance trip and didn’t need precise directions, you relied solely on a printed map. This was often a folded map that fit easily in the glove compartment or door pocket. To consult the map while driving safely — keeping both hands on the steering wheel and your feet on the pedals — all you had to do was open the map carefully using your elbows and knees.
After you had succeeded in opening the map fully, the next step was to close it quickly in order to see the road. Not only were these maps large, hardly any of them were transparent. An experienced driver learned to keep a map open sideways or horizontally and glance at it occasionally, a technique that worked extremely well, up until the moment a gust of wind blew the map out the window. At this point, the driver had no choice but to stop and ask a random stranger for directions to the nearest map store.
Thankfully, Google Maps was released for mobile devices in 2006. As a result, an estimated one billion people now use Google Maps every month for directions, and only a few dozen of them end up in a lake.
Some of them, of course, intend to be in a lake. Others just find themselves in a lake. All they did was follow the voice navigation on Google Maps: “Turn left, then make a sharp right. After 400 yards, turn right again, go down the ramp and start swimming. Watch out for the alligators!”
I’m not saying that you’re definitely going to end up in a lake if you rely on Google Maps. You might end up in a river. The ocean is also a possibility. That’s what happened to two tourists driving a Dodge Caravan in Hawaii last May. They followed Google Maps down a boat ramp at Honokohau Harbor.
“I was going to yell at them, ‘Ladies, Google is wrong!’” a witness named Tony Perman told Island News. “But before I even had a chance to do that, they were already in the water."
As Google will tell you, their maps app is very reliable. That’s why many drivers trust it. But before you rely on it completely, make sure you’ve taken swimming lessons.
Even if you’re far from any water body, it’s wise to study a map before relying on Google’s directions. Just ask a pair of German tourists whose car recently got stuck in muddy terrain after Google Maps led them erroneously through a national park in Australia. The young men had to walk for several days to get help, saying “Thank you, Google Maps!” every time they encountered a crocodile or snake.
The residents of Kodagu district in Karnataka, India, are apparently well-aware of Google’s shortcomings. Kodagu Connect, a local news outlet, recently shared an image of a sign beside a road that says, ''Google is wrong. This road does not go to Club Mahindra.”
If only more people were as kind-hearted as Kodagu residents. We’d be seeing similar signs all over the world, such as “Google is wrong. You cannot drive from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar,” “Google is wrong. If you make a left, you will find yourself in the Atlantic, not Atlantic City,” and “Google is wrong. Veering to the right will not take you to the zoo. It will take you to the Trump rally. Correction: Google is right.”
Whenever nostalgia hits me, it's never for the "good ol' days" of elbow-operated map reading while driving.
Google is never wrong - they simply want you to drive into the lake.