Anoop Mishra
The three men were on their way to a wedding when the accident took place.
Can a navigation application be held responsible if a user is involved in an accident?
That's the question facing India after three men died when their car veered off an unfinished bridge and fell onto a riverbed in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
Police are still investigating the incident, which happened on Sunday, but believe Google Maps led the group to take that route.
Part of the bridge reportedly collapsed earlier this year due to flooding and, although residents knew it and avoided the bridge, the three men were unaware of it and were coming from outside the area. There were no barricades or signs indicating that the bridge was unfinished.
Authorities have named four state highway department engineers and an unnamed Google Maps manager in a culpable homicide case filed against police.
A Google spokesperson told BBC Hindi it was cooperating with the investigation.
The tragic accident highlighted India's poor road infrastructure and sparked a debate over whether navigation apps such as Google Maps share responsibility for such incidents.
Some criticize the app for not providing accurate information, while others say it's a bigger failure on the part of the government to seal off the location.
Google Maps is the most popular navigation application in India and has become synonymous with GPS (Global Positioning System), a satellite radio navigation system.
It also powers the services of many ride-hailing, e-commerce, and food delivery platforms. The app reportedly has around 60 million active users and witnesses around 50 million searches per day.
But the app often came under scrutiny for providing incorrect directions, sometimes leading to fatal accidents.
In 2021, a man in the state of Maharashtra drowned after driving his car into a dam, apparently following the app's instructions.
Last year, two young doctors in Kerala state died after driving their car into a river. Police said they followed a route given by the app and warned people not to rely too much on it when roads were flooded.
YEARS
The bridge from which the car fell
But how does Google Maps know about changes on a road?
GPS signals from user apps track traffic changes along routes: an increase signals congestion, while a decrease suggests a road is less used. The app also receives updates from governments and users regarding traffic jams or closures.
High traffic complaints, or those notified by authorities, are prioritized because Google doesn't have the staff to handle the millions of complaints that flood in daily, says Ashish Nair, founder of mapping platform Potter Maps and former from Google Maps. employee.
“A map operator then uses satellite imagery, Google Street View and government notifications to confirm the change and update the map.”
According to Nair, navigation apps cannot be held responsible for incidents as their terms of service clearly state that users should use their own judgment on the road and the information provided by the app may differ. real conditions.
Besides, it's just very difficult for a platform like Google, which manages maps around the world, to keep track of all the changes that happen on a road, he adds.
Getty Images
Google Maps is widely used in India
Unlike other countries, India also does not have a strong system for reporting these issues on time.
“Data remains a major challenge in India. There is no system to record infrastructural changes in a web interface, which can then be used by applications like Google Maps. Countries like Singapore have such a system “, explains Mr. Nair.
He adds that India's vast population and rapid development make it even more difficult to obtain accurate, real-time data. “In other words, bad maps are here to stay until governments become more proactive about collecting and sharing data.”
Lawyers are divided on whether GPS apps can be held legally responsible for traffic accidents.
Lawyer Saima Khan argues that since India's Information Technology (IT) Act gives digital platforms like Google Maps the status of an “intermediary” (a platform that simply disseminates information provided by a third party), it is protected against any liability.
But she adds that if it can be proven that the platform failed to rectify its data despite providing correct and timely information, then it could be held liable for negligence.
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