Australian police: Apple maps 'life threatening'

[wayno]

Australian police: Apple maps 'life threatening'

Victoria Police say a glitch in Apple's new iPhone mapping system is putting lives at risk by sending motorists into isolated parkland.

Over the past month, officers in the far northwestern Victorian town of Mildura have had to rescue five motorists who followed directions from their iPhones operating on the new iOS6 system but were led more than 70km off-course.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/ne ... d=10853239

[ryantmalone]

What ever happened to using a good old Melways?

I tried using Apple Maps once to get out of South Melbourne, and had no luck at all. I hear that Google are working on Maps for iOS, the only problem is whether or not Apple will allow it into their app store.

[Strider]

the only problem is whether or not Apple will allow it into their app store.

Apple issued a media release immediately when the problems with Apple Maps were identified saying to download Google Maps and put on your home screen.

[ILUVSWTAS]

Maybe im just getting old, but if you need to know where you are going, shouldnt you use a real gps, not a phone?

Or as a REAL radical thought, and bear with me on this one as i know alot of the younguns wont know what im talking about, but maybe you could use the phone as a PHONE, and call someone to ask where the hell am i.

[Nuts]

I don't see how they don't realize they're heading into 'dangerous parkland'
Don't they look up? Load of old cobblers I'd say.

[wayno]

not any more they dont, if the computer says go forward , they go forward till it says stop or until they cant move anymore....
a few trucks and buses are getting stuck on some narrow winding rounds around wellington recently because they religeously obey the dedicted gps's even though the roads are rather narrow and windy....

[photohiker]

Stupid people + Stupid GPS

It's just the gene pool cleaning itself up.

[Son of a Beach]

There's no doubt that Apple's map data was not up to scratch when they released their new maps app (and is still in need of improvement). However, people should also take some more responsibility for their own mistakes. Blindly following any map (paper, electronic or otherwise) is kind of stupid. Surely there are road signs somewhere that would give some hint of matching the map they're looking at or not.

[wayno]

theres a new generation who just follow the instructions on the screen, and if the instructions are wrong then its often too late ...
they dont know how to read maps or use compasses. just turn the gps on and follow the instructions
i see people on tracks using GPS's that i dont even bother taking a compass on because its so well signposted and marked... they keep looking constantly at the gps when they are on a perfectly well defined trail, if the gps was wrong they'd just follow it blindly till it took them over a cliff
people are using electronic devices to replace navigation skills completely..

[Pteropus]

I don't see how they don't realize they're heading into 'dangerous parkland'
Don't they look up? Load of old cobblers I'd say.

I agree. Its like the tourists who drove into Moreton Bay, as linked in this thread. Do people not look at their surroundings? And what ever happened to good old paper maps and perhaps surveying and even memorising the route before hand? Does that make me old fashioned? Probably....

[photohiker]

Surely there are road signs somewhere that would give some hint of matching the map they're looking at or not.

In a previous life I drove that road every month for about 7 years, and we still drive part of it on the way to the snow each year. I can assure you that there are plenty of road signs, and you can easily get to Mildura without ever checking the map.

This is the Apple map screen shown on the ABC website:



That purple pin is placed at Mildura. Searching for Mildura in Maps puts the Red pin in the right place, so I guess Apple have corrected the error.

They drove on the Calder highway near Hattah, and I know there is a roadsign just north of Hattah showing that Mildura is 69km to go. They would have passed that sign IMO. The road they took out into the national park is dirt. Why would you turn off a good bitumen road marked with your destination on to a narrow dirt road?

The only sympathy I have here is for the poor Police who have to 'rescue' these numbnuts.

[sthughes]

All these GPS programs have issues. To get to my work I have to turn left at a major cross roads with traffic lights on a divided 4 lane highway. It is clearly a "no-right turn" intersection but Google, Nav-man, Tom Tom and a number of others all tell me to turn right anyway (which would be quicker/shorter but illegal). Apple Maps is the only one to get it correct and direct me left instead.

On the other hand if you look for the nearest McDonalds restaurant in Burnie using Apple maps it directs you to drive literally right past Burnie McDonalds, bypass Ulverstone Maccas and you end up at Devonport Maccas 45km away.
When in rural north Queensland in 2010 Nokia maps regularly directed us into paddocks and some barely recognisable old vehicular tracks that have long since been reclaimed by nature. The data must have been 80s era 4x4 routes at best I think.
Luckily I'm not completely stupid so none of these issues have ever caught me out, but still goes to show.

Apparently the Mildura issue is partly to do with the government, Geoscience Australia list that point in the national park as the centre of "City of Mildura Municipality". Hence Apple was directing people there, whoops.

All maps, whether online or on paper, contain errors. Common sense is needed.

But yes Apple maps are pretty rubbish in general.

[Nuts]

I agree. Its like the tourists who drove into Moreton Bay, as linked in this thread.

Hahahar, that's ridiculous!! Funny though !

[Son of a Beach]

heheh... when I was using the beta version of iOS 6, Apple's maps were even worse. Any tiny bit of water in Tasmania (eg, farm dams) were labelled "Southern Ocean", and the "Pacific Ocean" was in the middle of Africa!

[Hallu]

Yeah Mildura is REALLY hard to miss, especially from that route... Regarding google maps, it's better but only useful for sealed roads. Anywhere else you need a good Hema map or the likes. Besides it's hard to plan an itinerary on a tiny smarphone/computer screen, a big unfolded map always gives me ideas. But on the other end, sometimes road signs are confusing, and it's reassuring to know your exact GPS location, I wouldn't recommend driving in Spain without a GPS for example, their roads are such a confusing mess...

[sthughes]

Google maps is back on the App Store! Finally!

They have updated the directions since I last tried, I no longer get told to turn right at a left turn only junction! Instead I'm routed the wrong way up a one-way street instead.

[Son of a Beach]

Google maps is back on the App Store! Finally!

They have updated the directions since I last tried, I no longer get told to turn right at a left turn only junction! Instead I'm routed the wrong way up a one-way street instead.

Presumably you'd be travelling faster into ongoing traffic that way. So does that mean that they have upgraded their method for killing off their users?

[wayno]

so who's going to drive to Mildura

[Natalie Witt]

Australian police: Apple maps 'life threatening'

Victoria Police say a glitch in Apple's new iPhone mapping system is putting lives at risk by sending motorists into isolated parkland.

Over the past month, officers in the far northwestern Victorian town of Mildura have had to rescue five motorists who followed directions from their iPhones operating on the new iOS6 system but were led more than 70km off-course.

Apple should fix the problem. Though it is a parkland we never know the danger waiting to any motorist if there are crazy people in there.

Mod: Hi Natalie, I would suggest a general location (ie: even just 'Victoria') under your Avatar rather than an address. I tried to change it (until you get back) i'm not sure how (or whether I can, if you want), welcome to the forum

[tastrax]

In Tasmania there have been a couple of classic gps/map mistakes (not only on iPhones) - one was Hastings Cave which was located at Dover for some time. And when they did get it in the right spot it got you there by Forestry back roads rather than the main road! Very disconcerting for some tourists.

[taswegian]

Doesn't matter what type of map you have one still needs to know how to use them.
I've seen people get hopelessly up the creek with a paper version because they have turned it around and around again, to try and orientate it the way they think it should be, then head off into the blue yonder. Voice guided by some poor misguided soul.
Apple and others just do it all electronically.

Personally I like to use aerial imagery. It's interesting to see the mismatch between roads and features.

[Binder]

We have had a number of cases at mt field, where foreign tourists bring their gps's from home. They often can't read directional signs so go solely off their electronic friend with spectacular results.Some have said (via translators) that they expect roads in Australia to be dirt or rough, so the alarm bells don't ring straight away. A couple of groups have been directed to Mt Field from Huonville via the jeffries track or forestry tracks up the Styx valley. An interesting venture in a nissan mica in the snow...

Cheers

[Pats Dad]

It seems to me that no matter where one is from, one does a bit of homework before departing on a trip. I can't imagine departing with only a single entry into a *&%$#! phone to guide me and I can't raise any sympathy for any idiot who would. As for expecting quality guidance from a device which does so many things (Jack of all trades?) is, well, words fail me.

[Ent]

Hi

Electronic maps are tools and like the paper ones can be wrong. A couple of days back found a confused delivery person with iPhone and parcel but no address. Quick check of the number revealed that she was on the wrong side of the street and further look found the shop sign. Basically she had over relied on the accuracy of the iPhone. Bit like me and the automatic word completion feature plus spell checker.

Still for most of the time electronic helpers are great but flawed by lack of program plus data quality control.

Cheers

[wayno]

plus electronics die. have a manual backup, map and compass... and know how to use them.

[Lindsay]

It seems to me that no matter where one is from, one does a bit of homework before departing on a trip. I can't imagine departing with only a single entry into a *&%$#! phone to guide me and I can't raise any sympathy for any idiot who would. As for expecting quality guidance from a device which does so many things (Jack of all trades?) is, well, words fail me.

Not doing any homework is a very common occurrence. On numerous occasions I have had foreign tourists just off the plane in Sydney tell me that they are about to pick up a hire car and head to Cairns. When I ask where they are stopping for the night they look at me in confusion and reply 'Cairns of course' I then give a very quick geography lesson before sending them on their way, somewhat stunned but a little better informed. Still, I often wonder how many of them I will hear about on the news being lost in the desert, stranded on top of a mountain or eaten by crocodiles.

[Son of a Beach]

Not doing any homework is a very common occurrence. On numerous occasions I have had foreign tourists just off the plane in Sydney tell me that they are about to pick up a hire car and head to Cairns. When I ask where they are stopping for the night they look at me in confusion and reply 'Cairns of course' I then give a very quick geography lesson before sending them on their way, somewhat stunned but a little better informed. Still, I often wonder how many of them I will hear about on the news being lost in the desert, stranded on top of a mountain or eaten by crocodiles.

Apparently some European travel agents actually tell their clients that they can drive from Sydney to Cairns in four hours. I'm not sure where they get this very specific figure from, but I suppose it's probably more an estimate that they can drive across half a dozen countries in Europe in a single day, or maybe they're confusing it with flying time. You'd think a travel agent would not be more careful about travel advice though.

[Wollemi]

I'd say that the original gist of this thread is irrelevant now...
due to the woman who has a photo, full name where most use a nickname/handle/nom de plume, and street address!

It is written, on this thread with a title conveying the message that electronic devices can be 'life threatening'; we never know the danger waiting to any motorist if there are crazy people in there.
To paraphrase her - we never know the danger waiting to any bushwalk.com poster if there are crazy people out there.

And shame on the moderators for not changing the personal details pronto - moreso, again, in a thread about a formal police caution to everyone with respect to safety. I do not seek to scare nor stop the contributor from adding to the forum - just subtract the personals.

[Pats Dad]

Maybe im just getting old, but if you need to know where you are going, shouldnt you use a real gps, not a phone?

Or as a REAL radical thought, and bear with me on this one as i know alot of the younguns wont know what im talking about, but maybe you could use the phone as a PHONE, and call someone to ask where the hell am i.

Oh thank all the Gods I'm not the only one. Who, in their right mind would trust a phone for navigation, they still have troubles as a reliable communications device.
One would have thought all the glitches in software constantly coming out would have been a warning too.
First thing is a good old fashioned map, the batteries will never go flat, it will never loose contact with a satellite and you can get one to cover as little or as much as you need.

[GPSGuided]

Oh thank all the Gods I'm not the only one...

The thread is 2 years old!