Three men died in India after Google Maps told them to drive off an unfinished bridge over the Ramganga River. Part of the bridge had been washed away in floods months ago and construction companies had only just begun to rebuild it.
According to a report in the Indian newspaper Economic Times, the men were travelling from Gurugram to Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh and were driving at night when the edge of the bridge in front of them seemed to catch up and they fell off.
Footage circulating online shows onlookers looking out over the gruesome scene from the edge of the abruptly ending structure several metres above the ground. Local authorities said cellphone records showed the group had been using Google Maps before the accident.
Since then, the victims’ families have criticized the lack of safety measures and demanded accountability.
“They were checking the route using Google Maps and fell from the incomplete bridge,” Pramod Kumar, one of the victims’ brothers-in-law, told Economic Times. “The road was supposed to be closed but it wasn’t. The map should not have shown that the bridge was completed.”
This is not the first time that Google Maps directions have been linked to a road fatality. The family of a North Carolina driver who died tragically last year has sued Google for negligence after the app instructed them to drive off a bridge that collapsed in 2022.
At the time, the family claimed the accident could have been easily avoided if the navigation system had been updated. The bridge collapsed nine years ago and has not been repaired since.
Many questions remain unanswered regarding the recent tragedy. It is clear that the negligence of the construction company that allowed vehicles to pass over the unfinished bridge played a major role, but should Google also be held liable for the fatalities?
“Our deepest sympathies go out to the families,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement to Futurism. “We’re working closely with the authorities and providing our support to investigate the issue.”
It’s not just a matter of faulty or collapsed bridges: experts point out that GPS navigation services such as Google Maps are now leading hikers in remote areas to “potentially deadly” routes.
