The recent tale of a Toyota Fortuner getting stuck on a set of stairs in Tamil Nadu because of a navigation app makes this a perfect moment to tackle a topic I’ve been meaning to write about for a while. A couple of things followed the incident. While many on social media made fun of the driver, several others commented about their harrowing experiences of getting lost while using Google Maps.
I belong to the latter category, as do several of my automotive journalist peers. Our work often involves driving in unfamiliar parts of the country, and unfortunately, getting lost, usually due to navigation issues. To be clear, I am not targeting any particular maps provider, but as the market leader, Google Maps gets the blame more often than not. Several of us jokingly call it ‘Google Mata’.
Sometimes, navigation software can open up whole new routes with scenic landscapes and excellent stretches of blacktop. But, as I have learnt multiple times over the past decade of using navigation software, sometimes they can put you in a bind.
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Guided into wild goose chases
My first experience was in Jodhpur, driving the new (at the time) Mahindra XUV500. Thanks to a flight delay, I wanted to while away some time by visiting Mehrangarh Fort. But the vehicle’s inbuilt navigation system (Google Maps and data connectivity were not great back then) sent us into the heart of the old city, on a road that was completely inappropriate for the XUV500. That made me wonder why the system was not aware of the narrow nature of the route and also the size of the vehicle it was installed in. Even with a reversing camera, extricating ourselves from this tight spot took immense driving skill and assistance from bemused locals.
I had thought that the navigation software had improved since then, but just a couple of weeks ago, a surprise awaited while I was driving the new Kia Sonet from Sanchi to Satdhara in Madhya Pradesh. Despite the two-millennia-old Buddhist monuments at Satdhara being barely visited by tourists—shocking in its own right—we assumed that the route being shown towards the site would be motorable. It wasn’t.
After driving a few kilometres through rural Madhya Pradesh on roads constructed by the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana—a project that has immensely improved rural connectivity over the last couple of decades—the road suddenly ended. But the navigation wanted us to go through a freshly planted wheat field. The farmer whose land it was must have grown sick and tired of vehicles running through his field, so he’d blocked access with a few large branches. Even if we’d managed to remove them, there was no guarantee that the Sonet would have made it across as it wasn’t a 4×4.
Thankfully, a local resident on a motorcycle, who might have seen such lost and confused souls before, guided us through an unmarked road carved out by the villagers themselves.
For better or worse, navigation apps have sent me on wild goose chases all over India and the world. While I really like the work that Rohan Verma is doing at MapMyIndia (which provides map data to most Indian manufacturers) as well as Apple Maps, trying to get from Gwalior Road to the Yamuna Expressway in Agra almost gave me an aneurysm.
Here is the thing, though: I do remember a time without any navigation software. I remember massive fold-out maps and being sent on wild goose chases by locals. Getting lost was the nature of driving if you went to an unfamiliar place or faced a confusing road junction. Mobile phones were not as common those days, so one really had to depend on the altruism and road knowledge of the people one asked for directions.
I have been on drives across the world where I have been provided hefty route books. Back then, you always wanted to be paired up with someone who could ‘read a map’. I’m proud to say that I still can, and often need to while planning some of the road-trip adventures we undertake at ThePrint.
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Use tech, but also smarts
If you call for a taxi today, either the application already has an accurate location or the taxi driver asks you to drop a pin. For the most part, we use navigation in areas that we already know fairly well, primarily to gauge traffic conditions. On that front, I must admit Google Maps has saved me from many predicaments in Delhi and elsewhere. These days, it is just ‘plug and play’ with cars and phones, with more and more vehicles featuring wireless smartphone connectivity.
But here lies the rub: do not trust navigation software blindly. Take a look at the suggested route before you set off. If your navigation software has a satellite mode and you are in an unfamiliar place, use that.
Also, keep in mind the capabilities of the vehicle you are in. For instance, if you are in a smaller vehicle with a tight turning circle, you will be able to manage narrow roads, which wasn’t the case with the Fortuner mentioned earlier. While the Fortuner is a 4×4, it doesn’t mean it can plough through anything.
It’s still a good idea to ask a local resident about which route you should take. During a trip to Chakrata with the Maruti-Suzuki Jimny, our resort manager took a look at the car and only then advised us to “just go straight”. I’m not sure he would have said the same thing if we were driving a Mercedes-Benz sedan.
Then, of course, there is the issue of mobile signal ‘dead zones’, particularly in hilly regions. So, even if you are using navigation, be sure to load the route before you set off, preferably on multiple devices.
While navigation software is usually highly accurate in urban areas, please keep your wits about you. There will likely be more and more stories of people getting lost in India thanks to navigation issues, much as has been the case in developed nations. But a bit of common sense and driving ability should be enough to get out of a jam. That said, I don’t know how much of either remains among the population at large.
@kushanmitra is an automotive journalist based in New Delhi. Views are personal.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)