Navigation apps from Google and Apple are convenient, especially when the driver is not familiar with the area. But it can become frustrating or hazardous when the app sends the driver into a loop or down a wrong path.

This has happened more than once to me. I drive a lot across states from Wyoming to California and sometimes need to veer off the highway to a backroad when I come across a traffic accident blocking a two- or four-lane highway. 

So when I came across this article in Autoevolution, it hit home. Authorities in Clare County Council in Ireland decided to put up a new road sign on the Wild Atlantic Way to tell drivers to stop using navigation apps.

Google, Apple, and other companies have ignored the problem, so authorities in Clark County put up a dedicated signs to tell drivers to stop using navigation apps. “Do not follow sat-nav,” the sign reads. It is placed just under a “local access only” sign.

As the author point out, navigation apps like Google Maps and Waze typically look for shortcuts to guide drivers. Sometimes they reroute the drivers using small, residential roads. The navigation apps can create disruptions in small communities, sending heavy traffic on roads incapable of handling it.

Reports surfaced in June that Google cut jobs at its Waze mapping service to merge the unit with Google Maps. The company shifted its Waze strategy to include Google ads rather than use a separate ads system. It began the consolidation around December 2022.

The Waze app relies on crowdsourcing to determine the fastest driving route from one location to another, with the most recent traffic information. Waze, at the time, reportedly had about 140 million active users.