Incident 22: Waze Navigates Motorists into Wildfires
Entities
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CSET Taxonomy Classifications
Taxonomy DetailsFull Description
Google-owned directions app Waze sent drivers toward areas impacted by the Skirball wildfires in Los Angeles late December 2017. The app looks at current traffic patterns and suggests routes that avoid major congestion. In the case of mass evacuations, as were implemented for these fires, congestion was seen on the evacuation routes leading the app to direct drivers toward the empty roads. These roads were empty because the area ablaze and impassable. Waze/Google engineers typically work with departments of transportation on traffic pattern changes to augment its directions, however in the case of a quickly-developed emergency, the app did not provide safe driving directions.
Short Description
Waze, a Google-owned directions app, led California drivers into the 2017 Skirball wildfires as they tried to evacuate the area.
Severity
Negligible
Harm Type
Harm to physical health/safety
AI System Description
Waze, a directions app meant to decide what route from point A to point B would allow the shortest travel time. Waze also shows potential car accidents, police activity, and other hazards to consider while driving.
System Developer
Sector of Deployment
Transportation and storage
Relevant AI functions
Perception, Cognition
AI Techniques
Interpreting traffic patterns, travel time estimation
AI Applications
Direction suggestions, recommendation engine,
Location
Los Angeles, CA
Named Entities
Waze, Google, Los Angeles Department of Transportation
Technology Purveyor
Waze, Google
Beginning Date
12-2017
Ending Date
12-2017
Near Miss
Near miss
Intent
Accident
Lives Lost
No
Infrastructure Sectors
Transportation
Data Inputs
Traffic patterns, human operator input
Incident Reports
Reports Timeline
California residents looking to avoid routes that were full of hazards from the wildfires burning across the southern region of the state were getting directions that accomplished the opposite of that this week. As fires burned and spread r…
Law enforcement vehicles patrol a neighborhood in a mandatory evacuation area on Dec. 5 in Ventura. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Jacking up prices for essentials during a state of emergency is illegal, California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becer…
There are currently multiple fires raging across Southern California, one of which forced the notoriously clogged 405 Freeway in Los Angeles to shut down.
Big fires force people to find new routes — including people using apps like Waze and…
Emergency crews in Southern California block a roadway as flames spread from a wind-driven brush fire. REUTERS/Gene Blevins
Southern California residents and visitors fleeing the wildfires raging around Los Angeles are contending with a new…
The Los Angeles Police Department is reportedly telling motorists to avoid using navigation apps when attempting to circumvent the region's wildfires.
According to the Los Angeles Times, authorities fear that these programs will guide motor…
Users of popular navigation apps like Waze are warning the services directed them to neighborhoods where wildfires forced closures and evacuations.
The issue stems from the way apps like Waze help users avoid commute nightmares such as heav…
Users of popular navigation apps like Waze are warning the services directed them to neighborhoods where wildfires forced closures and evacuations.
The issue stems from the way apps like Waze help users avoid commute nightmares such as heav…
Google's navigation app, Waze, is directing some drivers right into neighborhoods where wildfires in Southern California have forced road closures and evacuations, USA Today reported Thursday.
Roads closed as a result of the wind-whipped fi…
Google’s popular navigation app, Waze, is directing some drivers into neighborhoods where wildfires in Southern California have forced road closures, USA Today reported Thursday.
Waze's mission is to put users on less traveled routes to avo…
CLOSE This was startling scene along Interstate 405 in Los Angeles as a wildfire engulfed the hills. USA TODAY
The 101 Highway was closed after the Thomas Fire jumped the road towards the Pacific Coast Highway in Ventura, California, Decemb…
Race to contain deadly blazes as authorities warn 80mph gusts could fan flames in already devastated communities
This article is more than 1 year old
This article is more than 1 year old
Wildfires blazing through California have entered the…
The Los Angeles Police Department cautioned drivers this week not to use navigation apps like Google Maps and Waze while trying to find their way from a fire zone.
Officials said some drivers attempting to circumvent the Skirball Fire, whic…
MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images
At least five wildfires have been blazing in Southern California over the past week, engulfing tens of thousands of acres and more than 150 homes.
On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Los Angel…
The aftermath of a wildfire in 2015 (Image Source: The aftermath of a wildfire in 2015 (Image Source: Flickr via Bob Dass
Google maps, waze, and apple maps all seem to think I can take the 405 to work and drive right through the fire withou…
LOS ANGELES During this week’s wildfires, navigation apps like Waze and Google Maps were guiding drivers into evacuation areas and caused congestion where officials were ordering streets closed, according to a motion introduced by Los Angel…
LOS ANGELES During this week’s wildfires, navigation apps like Waze and Google Maps were guiding drivers into evacuation areas and caused congestion where officials were ordering streets closed, according to a motion introduced by Los Angel…
The ongoing wildfires in Southern California have destroyed hundreds of homes and forced 200,000 people to evacuate. And with so many fleeing for safety, people have suddenly had to confront a once hypothetical question: How well can naviga…
LOS ANGELES During this week’s wildfires, navigation apps like Waze and Google Maps were guiding drivers into evacuation areas and caused congestion where officials were ordering streets closed, according to a motion introduced by Los Angel…
When it first debuted in 2007, navigation app Waze had a simple mission: make commuting easier by developing a community of drivers who are able to inform each other about road conditions.
The idea is that, like Google Maps, Waze will give …
LOS ANGELES, CA — Mobile traffic applications such as Waze are causing a dangerous flood of traffic to be funneled onto tiny Los Angeles side streets, and the city should develop ways to curb the apps from diverting drivers off of major tho…
Another Motion to curb traffic navigation apps has been introduced out of concern traffic apps have been clogging side streets with drivers and sending them into evacuated areas during emergencies.
Councilmember Paul Koretz (CD5) introduced…
Navigation apps like Waze are trying to help motorists avoid hurricane flooding. But can people really rely on their smartphones to steer themselves out of a disaster zone?
Amid heavy rain from Florence, some smartphone or in-car map direct…
