Google Maps error leads to wrong home being demolished

Don’t you just hate it when you’re trying to get to someplace new, but Google Maps leads you astray? For the most part, the service is pretty accurate, but every now and then, you’ll end up at your supposed destination, only to find yourself in the wrong place. This happened recently to one demolition crew, only they didn’t notice their error until is was too late.

Recently in Rowlett Texas a tornado hit, damaging a number of homes. A company by the name of Billy L. Nabors Demolition was contracted to demolish one of these homes, a duplex, earlier this week. The team in charge of this particular location plugged the address into Google Maps, and followed it to their destination. They found a duplex with damage from the tornado, and proceeded to do their job. The only problem was that they were roughly a block away from the correct address, and on a completely different street.

The owners of the duplex that was mistakenly demolished were in the process of estimating the cost of repairs to the building, and were most certainly not prepared to have it destroyed. As of Tuesday evening, neither of the owners had received any sort of apology from the company, who blamed the issue on Google Maps and said it was “not a big deal.”

Let this serve as a reminder that the technology we use is not infallible. It’s fine to use when you’re visiting a friend, or delivering pizza. If you make a mistake and ring the wrong doorbell, you’ll probably be politely referred to the correct location. However, if you’re about to demolish the residence at the address you plugged into your GPS software, you might want to double-check that it is correct. This could be done by verifying the number on the building, and the street that it’s on. A few extra minutes to verify the information could prevent the destruction of someone’s home and possessions.

VIA: WFAA