Google Maps Incorrectly Directed Drivers to a Residential Driveway

What happens when a street doesn't actually exist?

Google Maps
Google Maps is a useful thing to have on hand, as long as it's accurate.
Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Located due west of Staten Island, the town of Warren, New Jersey is conveniently nestled within the center of the state. I’ve personally driven through it multiple times, and it seems like a nice and scenic place to visit. The next time I’m passing through, however, I’m going to be a little more aware of where my navigation of choice — in this case, Google Maps — is taking me. Why? Well, because a few Warren residents recently learned that Google Maps believes that their driveways are through streets, and is directing drivers accordingly.

Writing at NJ.com, Karin Price Mueller detailed the issues facing Warren resident Peter Ossowski, who recently discovered that Google Maps had been, shall we say, misrepresenting his neighborhood. “[A] new street has appeared meandering through our property and our neighbor-to-the-rear,” he explained to NJ.com.

This is frustrating for Ossowski and his wife, who have had to deal with an increase of vehicles trying to use their driveway as a through street, and it’s frustrating for the drivers in question, who are finding themselves being directed by Google Maps to a nonexistent road.

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“We don’t want distracted drivers turning quickly into a driveway, or getting lost at night, and we’re concerned about emergency response if one would be needed,” Ossowski explained to NJ.com. Which seems like an entirely understandable concern.

Ossowski has contacted Google about the error, as did Mueller, and the company said that they’re working to correct the issue. Navigation apps can make a lot of things easier — but every once in a while, they can turn a very simple route into something far more complex.

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