Cars, campervans and a house bus - Paul's sick of people being directed across his farm by Google Maps

April 23, 2018

Thankfully Google has come to his aid, after cars, campervans and even a house bus travelled on his land, thanks to the internet giant's maps programme.

Paul O'Malley is sick and tired of people driving across his remote Central Otago farm.

"It's very annoying, dangerous and I've done my best to try and get it to change," Paul says as he steers his farm ute down his driveway.

There've been cars and campervans. 

"A house bus has come in also," says Paul, laughing. 

Most of the time Paul does not find this funny. He's worried someone may have an accident on his farm and he may be liable.

Ironically, the people driving across Paul's property aren't at fault. They are simply following Google Maps which says Old Dunstan Road, or Dunstan trail as it's known, goes right through his farm before linking back up with the actual road.

"It's weird and annoying," Paul says.

At the kitchen table, Paul shows us the numerous emails he's sent to Google. 

"They did change one road title but it was the wrong road and they gave it the wrong name," he says.

Last year Fair Go received a similar problem after the Coromandel town of Hikuai was incorrectly called Duck Creek by Google. This resulted in an ambulance going to the wrong place when a boy got run over by a tractor.

After Fair Go got in touch, Google did fix Paul's problem. He's happy he can go back to work. 

If you have a similar problem, Google says use this link to report an error .


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