[shishir333]

I was deep asleep when @2:30 AM a call woke me up. On the other side was my friend; distressed, stranded (along with his parents) in a jungle with his Harrier stuck in a muddy creek! (courtesy of google maps navigation)



Sharing here an incidence that I thought might add some value to this invaluable community.
MODS: I could not find a topic covering something similar but if you find some info redundant, please take necessary action

This incident took place two days ago; my friend was travelling from Pune to Jabalpur via Nagpur, a hometown trip with parents. Having no prior experience with such long trips, he decide to rely on google maps.
The vehicle for the route was his mighty Tata Harrier (XM) which he brought home in July last year. Since then he has done about 20K kms (despite negligible running in lockdown) and although he has had his fair share of issues with the Harrier, overall he is content and confident about it.

He started from Pune at 9 AM and was to stop at Nagpur as his intermediate halt by 11 PM. Lately, like most of us (I presume), he is highly reliant on google for navigation and it rarely disappoints.
This time though, his maps was doing something weird. It was regularly suggesting him diversions from the highway (NH 53) and he followed without much thought.

After about 14 hours of diving (and some stops), he could only reach Amravati, still 160 kms from Nagpur. He continued though as he had planned to make the first halt at Nagpur. Around 60 kms from Amravati (near Wardha), google again suggested a detour from highway.


The route to the north in the screenshot

The road was a dark, narrow and not in good shape, but reliant on google, he took the leap of faith. An hour and 20 kms into driving through the darkness, forest and bad road he ended up at small river (creek) crossing. The narrow bridge over the creek was broken but there seemed a way from the left through the creek. The creek looked dry with a little bit of mud so he took a gamble assuming his SUV would tackle this.

Thats where everything went wrong, the creek which seemed dry at first was filled with deep mud. The wheels dug in the mud as soon as the Harrier landed on the river bed. He tried to reverse and then push further, resulting in wheel spin and the tyres going deeper and deeper. After about 30-35 mins of unsuccessful attempts he was left with a car deeply stuck in mud, smoke coming out of the engine bay, burning smell, headlights and all other lights defunct, no visibility of the surrounding and scared parents in the middle of what seemed like a dense forest with no signs of human around.

It was 2:30 AM by then and so he finally decided to ring me for assistance. Following was his situation











I was called because

1. I was the one who pushed him for the harrier from - before it was launched to the the day it was purchased (I pretend to be "the car guy" in my friend circle)
2. I was also the one who made him get his insurance and all other necessities along with it so I knew more about his insurance.
3. Him being the first time car buyer had limited knowledge of the insurance coverage and the steps to avail the services.

The first step was to locate where he was and if he could find any help nearby.

I checked maps satellite view and found some houses about 500 mts from his location. Asked him if he could walk to the place for help but he was pretty scared (rightfully so) to walk the distance in that darkness.

Second step, look for RSA (time for the GoDigit part)

Prologue: I had used GoDigit insurance in the past and found them to be really good with both RSA and claim settlements...far better than the companies like IFFCO Tokio and Future generali and so I got him the same for his brand new car (ended up paying only 30% of the insurance amount quoted by his sales advisor at Concorde Motors, Pune)

Back to the incident; called GoDigit toll free number immediately, they were quick to respond. They asked for the policy number, exact location and some photographs of the vehicle (sent via whatsapp). While on the call, they immediately looked for nearby RSA for assistance. The nearest was 70 kms from his location in Amravati, they took the guy on conference and gave an ETA for the rescue. The assistance was on the move within minutes of making the call. All this happened on just one call within 15 mins!

Meanwhile I looked up for the towing option from the front, he mentioned that front is where they will have to tow as there is nothing behind the car but mud and trees.
Quick lookup on teamBhp's official review gave me this!

Originally Posted by Aditya

To access the towing point, the mid section of the skid plate needs to be unscrewed - tedious if you need to be pulled out from a sticky situation!!

Mad respect for TeamBHP reviews and reviewers, they had predicted this!

Towing hook housed inside of this cover tightened with screws! which in his case looked inaccessible.


Look how the skid plate is touching the ground

I wonder what must be the reason for housing this towing hook inside (any practicality?)

Regardless, fortunately for him, the rescue reached in just about an hour and 30 mins. Pulled his car out without any damage or scratches and also helped him in getting back to highway because the lights on Harrier were gone kaput.

The instrument console showed the engine check light but tired and exhausted he ignored it and drove all the way to Nagpur. Reached his halt at 8 AM putting an end to the ordeal!



After some rest and sleep, he woke up to find that the engine check gone and the headlights magically returned back to normal!
continued...

[shishir333]

Time for some investigation and introspection

First google maps. Why this weird behavior?
We figured this out



The navigation has "Route options" settings on top right which allows to check/uncheck three options. Avoid tolls, avoid ferries and avoid motorways.



He had all three checked. It made sense to avoid ferries and motorways but avoiding tolls was the culprit here. And here comes an important learning: whenever navigating using G Maps, do check if you have this option checked, because it could result in an experience similar to my friend's.
I have had instances when maps showed different routes on different devices inside the same car but we never put thought into the discrepancies until now. Is it possible that google automatically selects this option based on the driving behavior of someone? probably automatically checked "avoid tolls" if the guy is frequently avoiding tolls? (never know what crazy things their machine learning is learning)

Second, why did the lights (headlights specifically) on harrier stopped working? I don't have an answer to this and would ask bhpians to shed some light on the topic

Third, the engine light. This happened once with me too on my Polo. I revved the engine really hard on an off-road steep climb. There was smoke and burning smell from the engine bay. The engine light came on. And the very next morning it was gone! Even the VW guys did not find any error codes

Fourth, always get "Road Side Assistance" when buying an insurance policy. It might only be about 500 rupees for the year but here it saved my friend significant amount of trouble and money (he did not pay anything)
I remember an incidence when I was travelling to Goa, there was a narrow road good enough for just a car and a bike may be. A speeding i20 rushed into the curve; seeing an incoming car he lost control and went off track. Below are some photographs



I had a chat with the guy as soon as he came out of the car; advised him to call for RSA which he didn't have on the policy. He called his insurance company repeatedly but they were redirecting him from one person to another on the call (may be because of missing RSA?). Regardless, it must have taken him some money to get this vehicle out


Fifth, partially associated with the fourth point, GoDigit was a saviour. And these online insurance companies might actually be better than the older ones! My friend was really scared and so was his family, but the guys at GoDigit calmed him down and provided with assistance in timely manner. Photographs were asked to assess the situation and get the right vehicle required for rescue. Also the formalities were minimal (they only asked the name and policy number before getting straight to the point).

Lastly Never rely on just the maps; on longer routes stick to highways as much as possible. These detours are not only dangerous but exhaustive too and on longer drives, this exertion could result in really bad consequences!

Thanks for reading through, I hope by sharing this I could be of help to someone!

Stay safe!

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Street Experiences Section. Thanks for sharing!

Whoa, that is one scary story and one narrow escape!! But equally, hat's off to the roadside assistance team . Your friend's guardian angels were right by his side that night.

My suggestion: Best to avoid highway night driving altogether in India. Leave such that you reach your destination by sunset, tops. And yes, don't trust Google Maps blindly in rural India. Local intelligence (asking at toll booths & dhabas) is strongly recommended.

[BlackPearl]

Scary story and it reminded me of several occasions where Google/Garmin/MapMyIndia maps have led us to completely wrong directions, but none of those situations have been this bad. Lack of experience played a major part in this incident. From next time onwards your friend will be very cautious to leave metalled roads. One problem with travelling at night is that there are very few people to ask for directions if you get lost. It is better to avoid unknown roads at night. Your friend was very lucky that he had mobile connection and you responded to his call in the middle of the night! Good to have friends like you.

[Hayek]

Your friend really dodged a bullet here. For a new driver, I must say he showed a remarkable lack of judgment. Driving at night. Not asking yourself why is Google maps taking you off the highway on a long distance journey. And worst of all, deciding to drive across a river bed at night. Fortunately, no one got hurt.

Hats off to Go Digit - find the service truly remarkable here. And a lesson for me - do tack on the RSA next time I renew my insurance.

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by shishir333

[b] Having no prior experience with such long trips, he decide to rely on google maps. Lately, like most of us (I presume), he is highly reliant on google for navigation and it rarely disappoints. This time though, his maps was doing something weird. It was regularly suggesting him diversions from the highway (NH 53) and he followed without much thought.

Glad to know the incident ended on a happy note. So many things could have gone horribly bad. Your friend has learnt a lesson the hard way.

I've been a google maps user since it's advent. My two cents from experience.

1. If you were to drive on an unfamiliar long route, always do your home work on the way points you'll need to pass through. Make a mental note of the towns you would need to touch etc. Have a fair idea on the distances between them and keep a note of it handy.

2. If you have followed point 1, we would never be confused even if Google suggests a detour off the highway and we can remain confident on our heading. One can ignore such suggestions and it will reroute back through the main highway.

3. It's better to add stops(after studying the places/towns you're supposed to touch during your journey) than setting the starting point and final destination. This to be done religiously if you're to drive in the night through an unfamiliar route.

4. When in doubt, follow the tried and tested method - roll down the windows and ask people. Having google maps at times gives us a wrong sense of security.

5. At nights, if we are forced to take a detour owing to a blocked highway, it's better to wait for few vehicles to join us and try and move in convoy. Even if you lose your way, you're not alone and hence much safer.

6. On very long road trips that spans weeks, follow the old school practice of carrying a physical road map. It can give much more information at a glance than any of our big screens can provide. It doesn't need any network connectivity to open that multi fold map/atlas

[the_joker]

I have faced this issue on Google maps before. I was travelling between Udupi and Dharmasthala. Google maps sent me through some villages which was all 1 lane roads. Fortunately it was noon time, the road was paved, and there was minimal traffic. It has done this in Bangalore city as well - diverting me from Ring Road to some interior road to avoid traffic, making me stuck there. So, now I always check in 3 navigation apps - Google maps, Here maps, and Osmand, and take the route which seems best.

[greenhorn]

I recently had Google maps lead me down very weird roads - and it turned out my ham handed navigator had selected the "bicycle" option for navigation. so watch out there too!

[MAS]

Wow!! That is a pretty scary incident.

Your friend is very lucky and too naive to follow google maps with a longer route!

I use Google Maps everyday and have a fair share of hits and misses. While traveling from Chennai to Bangalore (Devanahalli), via Chitoor, google maps suggested me go through a single lane road through forest/dry land (with no mobile connectivity for a few kms). I took the route as it showed a significant saving in time.

I left Chennai at noon and planned to reach Devanahalli by 5.30 pm. I was very anxious after taking this detour as I had to catch an international flight at 10 pm from Bangalore Airport. But i was lucky as i reached the destination by 4.15 pm (just 4 hours and 15 minutes!!). I liked the route so much that i ended up taking the same during my return journey after 2 weeks.

[Vijin]

Scary indeed! Little irresponsibility on your buddy's part as well. However, it rocks that he had such a supportive friend. A reminder to us why it is important to study the route and mark your way before hand.

Quick question : How is Tata Motors RSA? Any particular reason they were not consulted?

Generic question: Thoughts on RSA from Manufactures vs Insurance? I had decent experiences with Hyundai RSA before, though they had outsourced it to a third-party, hence I never looked for other options. Similarly, I hold a Mahindra RSA package as well.

[itwasntme]

Dangerous experience and could have ended very badly. Should thank whoever he believes is looking over them.

Google Maps also recalculates in real time with the shortest journey time, which can be a boon but also a curse. I suffered that once in Kotagiri when it led me down an enticingly short route towards a local town one evening, BUT which was narrow, potholed and under repair in many areas. Never thought I would finish that particular journey.

Always better to stick to Maps without navigation but with traffic on. That way, you get to choose and not Google.

[Santoshbhat]

Scary story! Many of us have learnt the hard way not to blindly trust Google maps. My thumb rule is to always stick to bigger highways than taking internal roads. We can cover distances in half the time on highways than we can on small internal roads. So I always divide the highway part of a route by two when comparing different route options.

Despite my experience in long distance driving and all the "gyan", I have also been a victim of Google maps once. We were returning from Goa and the plan was to stop at my In-law's place in Sirsi (KA) for lunch. We were returning from Karwar and turned towards Yellapur. Karwar - Yelpapur - Sirsi seemed longer by about 50 kms (nearly 40% compared to shortcut) and Google suggested an internal road. We took it and it turned out to be an absolute nightmare. Mountain terrain with boulders and rocks all over. Worst part was that this was like a deep forest area with no human in sight for kms together and no phone signal . And here I was driving a complex German diesel with wife and 2 small kids. In the 20 odd years of my driving life, those were the 2 scariest hours at the wheel. It was midday and dry season. Guess that's what prompted me to take that risk. Learnt a big lesson that day.

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by shishir333

I was deep asleep when @2:30 AM a call woke me up.

Your friend was very lucky indeed to be in the range of mobile network, that too with data connectivity!

Regarding the Google maps, I make a habit of previewing the route and check for any detours from the main highway, an indication of route "optimization".

RSA option in my next insurance renewal. Thanks!

[BoneCollector]

That's a really scary situation to land into, especially in a riverbed area when rains are still playing havoc. I shudder to think if there was sudden water surge inundating that area.

Glad that they came out unscathed from this ordeal. And hats off to the road side assistance team.

You've pointed out a very important thing in Google maps, unchecking the avoid options. Whenever I have to go on a long drive, I study the maps a lot and also do some enquiries. I always try to stick to highways. There was a time when I had landed in a similar situation last year, although not stuck. I had to take a road without any lights or markings due to an accident on the main highway I was on. I just went through as suggested by Google maps as I was supposed to reach the parallel highway. Thankfully, it took longer time but didn't face any issues.

The lights not functioning could be due to him using the lights without the car switched on. That could have drained the battery. And when he would have drove till Nagpur, it would have got charged.

[ksameer1234]

When I started reading the post about someone getting lost between Pune and Nagpur, I started visualising the roads conditions since I have done this route several times, latest being last week. Then I saw the map screenshot and I was totally perplexed. Your friend safely managed the minefield between Aurangabad and Amravati which is no small feat given those terrible roads but bad luck caught him at the most odd place.

Originally Posted by shishir333

After about 14 hours of diving (and some stops), he could only reach Amravati, still 160 kms from Nagpur. He continued though as he had planned to make the first halt at Nagpur. Around 60 kms from Amravati (near Wardha), google again suggested a detour from highway.

Just for benefit of everyone, highway between Amravati and Nagpur is one of the best highway stretches with 4/6 lanes of pristine tarmac, no diversion, mild traffic and hardly any place for local traffic to cross (probably one or two). The red spot on map screenshot is toll plaza (hence marked heavy traffic) and that's probably why google suggested diversion. Regardless, it beats me as to why your friend took that diversion off such a great highway and arrow straight road.

Originally Posted by Vijin

Quick question : How is Tata Motors RSA? Any particular reason they were not consulted?

Tata offers free RSA for two years from purchase (for Tiago at least) and it is actually very good service (from own experience and others' feedback).