Catching Satnav Errors On Google Street View 312
Barence writes "Most of the satnav companies allow users to report errors with their maps, but do they ever get fixed? PC Pro's Paul Ockenden uses Google StreetView to highlight glaring and dangerous flaws in Tele Atlas maps — which are used by TomTom and Google Maps itself — but the company has failed to respond to numerous reports of map errors posted over the course of several years. 'About half a mile from where I live, a Tele Atlas-based satnav will instruct you to turn off at a junction where there's only an on-ramp,' Ockenden reports. 'I've witnessed some confused and dangerous driving at this junction as people try to find the non-existent exit, so I wouldn't be surprised if major mapping errors like this are a danger to road safety.'"
Re:Data Posioning.... (Score:5, Insightful)
There's got to be a better way to confirm the existence or non-existence of such must-avoid intersections.
Live traffic data I suppose. Traffic signals will calculate degree of saturation from dwell times on induction loop vehicle detectors. In most systems that data is passed up the chain to the software which does strategic traffic management. I have been out of the area for a while but I assume the live data is extracted at this point and aggregated into these live traffic data sets.
Re:Data Posioning.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Spy satellites for the masses (Score:4, Insightful)
There are these things called maps... (Score:2, Insightful)
Maybe y'all should learn to use them instead of driving into people's houses just because the GPS said "turn right".
No real danger to road safety that I can see... (Score:5, Insightful)
Because cars are not driven by computer, any driver that is remotely conscious of his surroundings would be able to spot the difficulty with trying to utilize paths that are clearly not intended for anyone to utilize.
And any driver who is liable to cause an accident because of this sort of thing is likely already a public menace for driving without due care and attention in the first place, so I do not think that this creates any significantly additional opportunity for traffic accidents beyond what already exists.
Re:Data Posioning.... (Score:5, Insightful)
I find your claim a somewhat incredible. How did they know when these companies were coming? And then how did they cause traffic disruptions? Did the residents take turns parking on the road for hours on end? Did they fake car accidents? That seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through, with considerable risk of police intervention, just to reduce tourist traffic on a nearby highway. What is your source for this information?
Re:Four Million Miles of Roads (Score:3, Insightful)
If you submit an error in the mapping system it has to be confirmed - your complaint simply can't be taken at face value
True, but there has to be a class of errors that can be confirmed with good accuracy just by looking at the "satellite" view on Google Maps
Re:Data Posioning.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Imagine instead: people driving less.
Re:Data Posioning.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Other problems:
People think that because he's so far back that he has a disabled vehicle and thus move in front of him, causing a dangerous situation.
People realize that he's a fucking moron and cut in front of him, causing problems.
People think that he's drunk and call the police, taking up their time.
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:No real danger to road safety that I can see... (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes... and when you feel confused or lost, the sensible thing to do is to pull over at the earliest legal opportunity to get your bearings, *NOT* be more caught up in your own mental disarray than you are aware of your surroundings.
If a person is incapable of performing that function, IMO, they should not be driving... they are a danger to themselves and to others.
And my point was that this device does not add any new threats that were not already there, as the people who would be inclined to cause an accident because of blatantly wrong directions are already driving without due care and attention in the first place.
Re:No real danger to road safety that I can see... (Score:5, Insightful)
You're missing the point.
A driver who picks road according to road signs and general look of the road is fine when there's no turn.
A driver who is ordered to turn into nonexistent street gets confused and distracted. Yes, sure they will realize this is no way, there is no point going there, the GPS is wrong. But they take a second or two to realize this, evaluate the wrong road, pick a new choice of actions instead of the planned ones. This is a distraction of the class of a kid throwing a cup of cold drink on your lap. Not serious by itself, if the situation on the road demands your immediate attention, it may be lethal.
Also, an experienced driver will just shrug it off, but nobody is born experienced. You need it happen to you 3-4 times before you learn how to cope with it. They don't teach you that in driving lessons. And before you get the experience you are fully vulnerable.
Re:My street doesn't exist (Score:1, Insightful)
I figured they were probably all relying on gps and can't find their way out of a wet paper bag on their own.
I think it's six of one, half a dozen of the other.
The company wants to pay as little as possible, and so ends up hiring idiots, or people who resent being paid peanuts. The idiots don't have a brain to engage, so can't find your place unless a machine holds their hand all the way to the door. The rest realise they have an excuse to be able to save themselves a few minutes work, and hence they can go home early (or actually on time), or just take their day a little easier.
The company will have demonstrated they don't give a shit about employees by paying fuck all, or doing the other bull shit companies do (expectations of unpaid over time, double standards on time-keeping (arrive for work late, bad. Leave work late, good), etc.), so it is no surprise when employees do as little as possible for the company in return.
Re:They're incorrect on purpose (Score:2, Insightful)
True, but this data is usually a small nonexistent alley or something. I doubt they add or remove highway ramps or do other things that harm the navigation. On purpose that is.