Google Maps has caused widespread chaos on German roads due to a technical error that has left most motorways marked as blocked. The incident occurred on Thursday, at the start of one of the busiest holiday periods of the year, leading to traffic collapse in a number of regions, including around Frankfurt, Hamburg and Berlin. Similar problems were also reported in certain areas of Belgium and the Netherlands. This was reported by The Guardian.
Users who relied on Google’s navigation saw a map densely covered in red markings – which turned out to be false. This forced thousands of drivers to take alternative routes via secondary roads, causing congestion, delays and panic on motorways.
Due to massive complaints, the police and traffic control services were forced to respond to a flurry of requests, explaining that many of the restrictions were not true.
Google acknowledged the error and explained that the navigation system works on the basis of data from various sources – third-party suppliers, open databases and user reports. The company’s representative said that as soon as the first signals of false locks were received, the system was promptly checked and updated. After a few hours, the problems were fixed, and only those traffic jams that actually occurred remained on the maps.
The incident was a serious reminder of the vulnerability of digital services and the level of trust that society places in technology, especially at critical times such as mass holiday travel.
