[RahulNagaraj]

A GPS error tragically led a car to plunge off an under-construction bridge in Bareilly, killing three people, as per Asianet News Network Pvt Ltd.

Source: X/SachinGupta

The details: The incident occurred on a foggy day, with GPS directing the vehicle onto an incomplete bridge, leading to the fatal accident.

Source: X/SachinGupta

• The bridge lacked proper signage or barriers, which could have prevented the tragedy, as per Navbharat Times.
  
• Police from Faridpur Bareilly and Dataganj rushed to retrieve the victims from the river, as per Navbharat Times.
  
• A video of the accident scene has circulated on social media, capturing the public's attention, as per Zee News.
  
• This accident highlights the critical need for updated GPS systems and infrastructure safeguards.

Source: DailyBrief

[Rajeevraj]

While the GPS Error storyline is fine. The larger question should be why such an incomplete road was not heavily barricaded with proper warning signs. Hope this does not get swept under the carpet of 'Lets blame the GPS and move on' without addressing the root issue that caused this.

[PreludeSH]

Sad to read this. Our roads never have the right signage. Imagine going at good speeds on such roads/bridges. Without any warning before hand, nothing can prevent you from jumping over.

There was a criminal case against BBMP engineers in Bengaluru for not properly having signs to indicate the start of flyover ramp with roads on either side. Vehicles hit the guardrail and there were casualties. Hope something similar with authorities found responsible for this happens.

[SS-Traveller]

Some people would argue Google Maps is at fault. But who would update the data to show that this was an operational bridge that collapsed? It was NOT an unfinished bridge.

“Earlier this year, floods had caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse into the river, but this change had not been updated in the GPS. As a result, the driver was misled and did not realize the bridge was unsafe,” Circle Officer of the area Ashutosh Shivam said.

From https://www.hindustantimes.com/india...448372951.html.

Some years ago, I personally almost suffered a similar fate.

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Driving over broken roads - the NH327E

It was around 6:45 pm as we headed from Araria towards the NH327E, and onwards to Siliguri. The road was pockmarked with craters, bumps, ongoing concretization work and - most shockingly - a broken bridge without barricading or marked diversions. I almost drove off the edge, but managed to come to a stop with 100 metres to spare.

[swiftLife]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Some people would argue Google Maps is at fault. But who would update the data to show that this was an operational bridge that collapsed? It was NOT an unfinished bridge.

From https://www.hindustantimes.com/india...448372951.html.

Thanks SS-Traveller for this.

Man! This is scary as hell!

I am very curious to know how it was deduced that the driver was using GPS. This issue can occur even if the driver wasn't using GPS.
As the road was operable before, it's highly likely that the road signage was also pointing to this route.

IMO this pure murder. Highest level of negligence by the authorities and demands the strictest action possible.

[Chetan_Rao]

Criminally negligent journalism to cover for criminally negligent civic authorities.

A damaged bridge, that was left without proper at-site signage and barriers to indicate its current state, and no updates sent to map/routing providers to reflect the same online.

Yet, the blame is conveniently palmed off to fog and GPS. Even if it wasn't foggy, who in their right mind expects a bridge to suddenly vanish ahead of them?

[NomadSK]

Any Civil engineer on forum, there is something strange with this picture, such edge comes at the abutment of the bridges and can be only possible on the 2 sides of the bridge to retain the soil embankment, where it meets the ground and in no way can have this structure midway of the bridge.

The dots aren’t connecting and hail the journalism as usual. I won’t be surprised if it’s an engineering blunder, probably the contractor got the money for 100m of bridge and the actual distance of the river was 200m, so he constructed the half, made the billing, took his payment after a govt servant signed his bills and lived life happily after. End Result - 3 innocent dead souls, this was just a disaster waiting to happen. And unfortunately there would be million more which we will come to know as and when innocent lives would be snuffed off.

I had posted this on another page that how the responsibilities are easily shifted to GPS when engineers or administration should have been taken to the task.

Bottom line is our roads leads to heaven/hell.

[Axe77]

Before we even get to GPS, how is a broken bridge even accessible at its entry point. That’s the foremost cause of negligence by relevant authorities IMO.

Separately they’re speaking of dense fog hampering visibility and despite low visibility reports suggest the car was driving really fast. How drivers drive faster than visibility warrants has always flummoxed me. But not sure how much to trust this statement given that authorities seem to be trying to blame everything except their own shortcomings - weather, technology let down, driver error ….

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

While the GPS Error storyline is fine. The larger question should be why such an incomplete road was not heavily barricaded with proper warning signs. Hope this does not get swept under the carpet of 'Lets blame the GPS and move on' without addressing the root issue that caused this.

Disagree with you about your opening line but in agreement with the rest of your post. GPS error story line is not fine but misleading. Google maps is a driving aid and every motorist should use the maps judiciously and not blindly. Also, as someone mentioned above, how did the authorities know that the folks who died were using the maps? Someone took the easy way out and let the actual people responsible for this tragedy avoid the scrutiny and blame the maps instead and the plaint media played along. The motorist, even if following maps, would be the last one to expect a bridge suddenly vanish in front of him !!

In the above case, it is solely the local administration which is at fault. The broken bridge should have been completely closed and barricaded with concrete blocks. The bridge collapsed but the road was never closed.

Few years back, there was a bridge collapse near Dumka in Jharkhand. The Google maps never got the inkling about the collapse sooner and kept on directing motorists through that collapsed bridge. So much so, the local people started printing a hand drawn map to let the motorists know of an alternate road. After few days or so, the administration closed the road and Google maps updated itself. Maps are also dependent on user feedback only. This blaming the map is simply a deflection theory and nothing else.

[Divya Sharan]

This happened to me on 4th January 2021 on Srikalahashti-Tirupati road while returning to Bangalore. I started from Guntur that morning around 4 AM and it must have been some time around noon that I climbed this empty bridge with nobody in sight.
I was not sleepy, there was no fog, no rain. I was just shy of triple digits when I stopped seeing light poles on the bridge ahead of me some distance ahead. Sensing something I slowed down and came to a halt. Checked GMaps again and yes I was on the right track. Hopped on the bike and continued a head slowly in 2nd gear and within 500m, the bridge ended and it had an abrupt drop! :o

This didn't look like a broken bridge. It was unfinished. No barriers were kept. It was noon time. No workers were around.

I made a U turn and got off the bridge. Rode a bit back and found a service road under the same bridge that connected me to Bangalore.

I was able to find the location in my GMaps timeline.

[kadanaJ]

While this is no doubt a terrible tragedy, I think the sadder take-away over here is how incompetent/corrupt our journalists have become.

In any other country, the newspapers would blame the local authorities and the road contractor for leaving an unfinished bridge accessible without any markings or barricades. Action should be taken against them for criminal negligence.

It is only in our great nation that the newspapers are doing their hardest to protect the actual people at fault by blaming the GPS.

More than anything, I am saddened to see the current state of journalism in our country.

[redcruiser]

Wondering if ADAS L2 technology will help in stopping in time in such cases. The radar now should scan if there is road ahead or not. Might be one of the outlier testcase that the technology makers need to look into.

[raghukodali]

if it is a collapsed bridge, where are the collapsed pieces of the bridge? At least the photo looks clean.

Something is not adding up at all.

[Rodie09]

There is absolutely no room for discussions here around foggy conditions, visibility, high speed, maps, signage blah blah blah....

The bridge entry point should have been barricaded with concrete blocks or something else that is tamper proof.

Authorities are the culprit here. Period.

[Wolfconsole]

Speaking of the headline in the news, I think it's not so much about protecting the authorities as about clickbait. News of a car accident owing to the negligence of authorities is too common, and readers would be more likely to click if the story is spun around how Google Maps led the car to crash.