A Google Maps glitch caused chaos in Oakwood Village
City officials say they’d like to speak with Google after drivers were sent in the wrong direction on a one-way street
After a Google Maps glitch sent unfamiliar drivers heading the wrong direction down a one-way Oakwood Village street, the city wants to have a chat with Google.
“The error was finally corrected on Google Maps and traffic has returned to normal,” Councillor Josh Matlow posted to social media. He explained that the city placed a temporary Do Not Enter sign on the street to deter further errors, after community members installed their own handmade signs.
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“I will be following up with Google Maps to understand what went wrong and what improvements can be made to prevent this situation in the future,” Matlow continued. “These sorts of Google glitches cause real and immediate safety impacts on our streets. Google Maps needs to be far more responsive to residents’ complaints, and far more transparent about the processes in place.”
Kelsey Carriere, a senior project manager with the city’s Transportation Services, echoed that sentiment in a statement sent to CP24. She said she’d like to “understand how such an error occurs to avoid a scenario like this in the future.”
Residents described several days of chaos and near-misses, especially scary with schools in the area.
In the absence of prompt assistance from Google or the police, people took it upon themselves to try and guide drivers in the right direction. A neighbour named Ellery Rosin, who spoke to the Toronto Star, said she reported the error to Google Maps every day. Eventually she called the police, who she says told her to “be vigilant.”
Google didn’t respond to CP24’s requests for comment, but hopefully they pick up the phone for the city.
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Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
