Post by ClankPost by TweedOn Tue, 17 Dec 2024 14:32:23 -0000 (UTC), Tweed
Post by TweedPost by JMB99ThereÂ’s no excuse for Google Maps not accounting for vehicle height.
I believe there are Add Ons for Sat Navs for HGVs with bridge details,
like the ones you can download with speed camera positions.
But for the hire van bridge bashers in the fens I suggest many drivers
will be using smart phone navigation.
Google Maps doesn't include height restriction data, because Google
Maps is a one-size-fits-all global system and that data isn't
available, or isn't reliable, worldwide. That's a deliberate design
decision on their part that they're unlikely to change in the
foreseeable future, on the basis that if people really need that
feature then there are other providers who do offer it and Google
doesn't want to be on the wrong end of a lawsuit from someone who
trusted their data if it happened to be wrong.
That's also why sat-navs designed for HGVs are, often, more expensive
than car sat-navs, because that kind of data is safety-critical and, to
be trustworthy, needs an SLA. And maintaining that SLA is costly.
And that's why too many van and truck drivers use Google Maps as their
sat-nav.
Mark
It’s not one size fits all at all. You get different displays of
information depending on where you are. For example, in Warsaw it shows
the real time position of trams.
...and if drivers were expecting to be able to use the real-time position
of the trams on Google Maps to avoid crashing into one instead of looking
out of the window, it would stop showing the real time position of trams.
If they start showing safety-critical data with a reasonable expectation
that people will then rely on it to make safety-critical decisions, they
are making an implicit commitment that it will be accurate and up-to-
date. It's entirely unreasonable to expect that (from a free service in
particular.)
If you want that, lobby your government to (a) provide a data source that
they will vouch is accurate and (b) legislate that providers who use that
data source will be immune from liability when it turns out that it isn't.
They already show safety critical information, ie the position of roads, if
they are one way etc. This isn’t always correct, and sometimes tries to
take vehicles down unsuitable roads.
My car’s integrated satnav has a database of speed limits. This becomes
outdated (though is overridden by the forward facing camera) and the car
doesn’t get it 100% correct even with the camera. It doesn’t mean that
either the map provider or the car manufacturer becomes liable for these
discrepancies.
Likewise a bridge height database on Google Maps isn’t going to be 100%
correct (but much more likely to be correct than speed limits or even new
road layouts) and the height limit sign will be the final word.
There was a recent case of errors on the mapping databases being misleading
about a motorway slip road, causing some drivers to enter against the flow
of traffic and leading to accidents and I believe a death. The maps
providers weren’t held liable but did respond to a request to fix things.
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