Couple suing Google Maps after it sent them to a notorious crime hotspot where they were brutally attacked and robbed at gunpoint::A Los Angeles couple filed a lawsuit against Google Maps for allegedly navigating them to a notorious South African crime neighborhood where tourists are left ‘injured, maimed or dead.’
My point was the that labeling certain areas as “bad” can create problems, even if it’s an area known for carjacking tourists. What defines a “bad” area? Petty theft? Drug arrests? Violent crime? Homelessness? How much crime does it take to be labeled “bad”? Unfortunately a lot of those areas are tied to poverty, and all too often poverty is tied to minorities. So say we start labeling areas, now traffic is reduced and maybe it even starts impacting local businesses because people are now checking the box that says “avoid bad areas” and routes people around a place that maybe got drive thru traffic at the coffee shops or gas stations.
You can easily see how difficult this is a policy to make. I’m not dismissing the problems these people encountered, but implementing this in popular guidance apps isn’t going to be easy.
Maybe instead of “I got a burger that tasted like any other McDonald’s burger” it could say “the carjackers were scarier than I could ever have imagined”? Seriously, it doesn’t have to label it as bad, it just has to have a warning sign, list risky activity in the area, and have alternate routes. Sucks if you’re the marijuana guy and your corner gets outed, but not so bad if the carjacker ambush zone gets highlighted.