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Google (Maps) messed up with the I5 shutdown
2 points
legohead
6 years ago
I'll keep this short as it's just a personal story from last night.

If you aren't aware, a part of the I5 was shutdown due to snow [1]. We took the day off to drive up the west coast and do some sightseeing, we are from the south LA area.

To make a long story short and get to the root of the issue: Google never reported the I5 being completely shut down. At most, it showed a lane closure for I5-North. We were headed south, so we just ignorantly drove right to the shut down only to be turned around. Couldn't Google have easily noticed that a section of highway is completely dead to traffic? Apparently it had been for hours, as there were massive lines of directed traffic both to the east and west.

Leaving the shutdown spot, The signs & cops were directing us eastward past Bakersfield to take the 58 and then the 14 south. But, when we arrived to the 58, the cops turned us away. This isn't necessarily Google's fault, as there was still a ton of traffic on the road, so I don't know how'd they detect this -- maybe by all the cars headed towards a specific spot and then turning away at the same spot?

[1] https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/12/27/map-i-5-still-closed-by-snow-southern-california-travel-restrictions-updated/

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