Apple Maps flaw results in drivers crossing airport runway

[chaparral]

An Alaskan airport has closed an aircraft access route because of a flaw with Apple's Maps app.

Fairbanks International Airport told a local newspaper that in the past three weeks two motorists had driven along the taxiway and across one of its runways.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24246646



OOPs...

 

[Cosimo]

They're lucky that it wasn't LAX.

 

[Deleted member 651465]

Clearly there's issues with the mapping software, but you have to take responsibility at some point too.

Didn't he wonder why it was telling him to cross a runway?

 

[chaparral]

Didn't he wonder why it was telling him to cross a runway?

Looks like a Shortcut...

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[Beerbaron]

Apple screwing up is so frequent now i just come to expect it.

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

Google uses fleets of cars to profile an entire country by actually driving along the roads, so that they know which roads are one-way, cul-de-sacs and where is off-limits e.g. the runway. Then when the profiling is complete, say 6 months later, it remains an ongoing project, say once a year, as roads do change. That's why we get a new Ordnance Survey map every year. Couldn't Apple do the same?

 

[[TW]Fox]

They're lucky that it wasn't LAX.

Or not - its only Fairbanks remote location that means such a route is even accessible to vehicles, there is of course no way you could accidently drive onto a taxiway at LAX

 

[chameleon]

It is just idiots blindly following their bit of technology. There has been cases of people trying to drive across rivers or almost off a cliff "cos the satnav said so" people just don't use their eyes (or brains) any more.

 

[nick.lidgett]

I think apple made a dumb mistake dropping google maps.

 

[Edrof]

Maybe he tested his new iPhone's waterproofing prior to his journey.

 

[Curio]

Me thinks those two people were just looking for a nice juicy lawsuit

 

[MikeTheNative]

Obviously there is something wrong with apple maps that they need to fox, but why is there not more hate for the stupid driver who drove across a runway because maps told him so.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Google uses fleets of cars to profile an entire country by actually driving along the roads, so that they know which roads are one-way, cul-de-sacs and where is off-limits e.g. the runway. Then when the profiling is complete, say 6 months later, it remains an ongoing project, say once a year, as roads do change. That's why we get a new Ordnance Survey map every year. Couldn't Apple do the same?

Apple buy their mapping data, I think it's from TomTom at the moment.

 

[Rimsy]

Apple buy their mapping data, I think it's from TomTom at the moment.

Yup but they made their navigation front end all on their own... and what a great job they did too.

 

[Bluebook]

I think apple made a dumb mistake dropping google maps.

agreed totally!

 

[Bluebook]

do drivers just blindly follow what Sat Nav's tell them or ocasionally look out of the window and make sure they are heading roughly in the right direction?

 

[neil_g]

people need to accept some responsibility. its like people locally driving up the railway track at a local level crossing because the satnav said to take the next turning (which happened to be next to the track)..

 

[estebanrey]

How can you even get to the runway from a public road anyway? Wouldn't it be fenced off? Forget Apple maps, if true the airport in question seriously needs to bump up it's security measures.

 

[grumpysculler]

How can you even get to the runway from a public road anyway? Wouldn't it be fenced off? Forget Apple maps, if true the airport in question seriously needs to bump up it's security measures.

Have you looked at where Fairbanks is? It's pretty much the middle of nowhere (Ice Road Truckers land). It's quite likely there's no fence and only a handful of planes a day.

 

[Energize]

With Apple's mapping services it's one horror story after another. Should've stuck to google maps.