Navigation apps make driving safer and more comfortable by not making you think about the direction of the road, highlighting every bend and hazard by telling you when to cut back or be more careful. But, as it turns out, not always.
You should always trust navigation with caution and pay attention to other factors. Because otherwise a fatal accident may occur.
Such happened recently in India, where three men fell off an unfinished bridge after driving along a route suggested by Google Maps. Brothers Nitin, Ajith and their friend Amit travel from Noida to Faridpur for a wedding.
They don't know the route, so they use Google Maps to navigate. The app directs them to a bridge over the Ramganga River. The driver did not notice the warning signs, climbed onto the bridge, which was, however, unfinished.
As a result of this mistake, the car falls off the bridge and the three people in it die on the spot. The tragedy highlights two main issues. First, the bridge is unfinished, but there are no fences on it, only warning signs.
Local media reported that the bridge had earlier been affected by flooding, with part of it collapsing due to heavy rain. The authorities did not put up proper signs, so the driver followed Google Maps, not realizing that the bridge was unfinished.
Blindly trusting navigation programs again proves dangerous, although in this case the search for road signs would not help. Navigation software, Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze, provides users with directions without being aware of real-time changes, especially if they are not reported by someone on the road.
Waze allows users to flag real-time hazards such as potholes, floods and road accidents, and experts say it's safer than Google maps because with the latter, as it turns out, closed roads, unfinished bridges and roadworks are still may pose a danger as the navigation system may not know of their existence.
An alternative is to always pay attention to road signs. Common sense also helps, and if a route or road does not seem right, the driver should not use it. It is unclear whether the driver can see the road ahead given the difficult conditions, but the lack of proper signs, warnings and barriers is the number one problem.