Two German tourists, Philip Mayer and Marcel Shen, trusted Google Maps with their lives during a trip to the Australian wilderness. The friends embarked on a 1000 km journey from Cairns, Queensland, to the small town of Bamaga near the northern tip of the mainland.
While near the rural town of Coen, they followed the directions of the Google navigator and turned off the main road onto a dirt track, driving into a national park. Mayer said they decided to trust Google Maps because the navigator seemed to know the area better than they did.
Their blind faith in technology took a dangerous turn when their SUV became stuck in mud after driving 60 kilometers into the wilderness. Faced with no other option, they continued their journey on foot. Getting lost in the wilds around Cape York Peninsula is extremely risky due to the vast uninhabited territory and dangerous wildlife.
This sparsely populated region, larger than the UK, is home to only about 18,000 people. The tourists eventually realized they were in a dry riverbed and had to retrace their steps. They spent some time near their immobilized vehicle before deciding to proceed on foot.
The treacherous journey back to Coen was challenging, with rain showers, crossing flooded rivers, and scorching sun. Mayer described having to run across a river with crocodiles as there was no other way to proceed. Despite trying to build a shelter, they ended up spending the night exposed to the elements.
Fortunately, the tourists managed to reach civilization and were reunited with their car along with a group of rangers. Google expressed relief that the tourists were safe and promised to investigate why the navigator led them into such a dangerous situation.
The travelers, who survived their ordeal in the wilderness, likened their experience to a bad movie plot that thankfully had a happy ending. While Mayer and Shen made it out safely, not all victims of Google Maps mishaps have been as fortunate. In a tragic incident in 2022, a man named Philip Paxton followed Google’s directions to a collapsed bridge and tragically lost his life in a car accident.