A car that was driving while looking at Google Maps fell off an unfinished highway.
According to the Daily Mail on the 10th, 61-year-old driver Rudy Heru Komandono fell while driving his BMW on a construction site overpass in East Java, Indonesia.
He was using Google Maps on his smartphone as a navigation system while driving. The navigation instructed him to divert onto another road, but startled by the sudden route change, he chose to continue straight.
The straight path was toward the unfinished highway. Although there was a barrier at the end of the road, Komandono was unable to stop and went over it, falling 12 meters.
At the time of the accident, other vehicles and motorcycles were passing on the road below, but the car involved in the accident avoided them during its fall. The driver and passenger sustained minor injuries but were assessed to be in no life-threatening condition.
Komandono said at the time of the accident, "The road suddenly got dark, and I couldn't see the other cars," adding, "I realized the mistake only after the car had fallen."
He also claimed, "While following Google Maps, I was suddenly directed onto another road, and I was confused," asserting, "This accident is not my fault."
A local police official noted, "The driver was excessively focused on Google Maps and passed the structure of the unfinished road," stating that they plan to add barriers to prevent other drivers from making the same mistake and to install warning signs. The police also plan to investigate why the unfinished road was not blocked by the road construction company.
The accident of falling from a broken bridge while driving following Google Maps is not the first. In November of last year, a vehicle fell from a broken bridge in New Delhi, India, resulting in three fatalities. These individuals were navigating while looking at Google Maps and were directed onto a bridge that had been closed to traffic after collapsing due to heavy rain in 2022. Consequently, there was criticism aimed at Google for not updating the map service in a timely manner.