Demolition firm blames Google Maps glitch for tearing down the wrong house

James Rogers

A demolition firm reportedly blamed incorrect Google Maps data for tearing down the wrong duplex in Texas Tuesday.

WFAA reports that Billy L. Nabors Demolition mistakenly tore down a duplex at 7601 Calypso Drive in Rowlett, instead of a duplex at 7601 Cousteau Drive, one block away. After the house was leveled, a company employee reportedly texted Google Maps photos to one of the horrified owners showing the arrow for 7601 Cousteau pointing at 7601 Calypso.

The duplex at 7601 Calypso had barely survived a tornado the day after Christmas and the owners were waiting on insurance and possible FEMA assistance to decide on repairs to the house.

Related: Stop Google from knowing every move you make

“How do you make a mistake like this?” Lindsay Diaz, one of the duplex owners, asked the station. “I mean, this is just the worst.”

The demolition company ultimately told WFAA it was "not a big deal." Diaz filed an information report with police to document the incident.

Gerry Beyer, the Governor Preston E. Smith Regents Professor of Law at Texas Tech University thinks that Google is s unlikely to be liable for the error.

"My gut reaction is that Google would not be liable," he told FoxNews.com, noting that Google's terms of service spell out that users remain responsible for any actions they take based on Google Maps.

Related: Alphabet chairman and ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt caught using an iPhone

This is not the first time that the accuracy of Google Maps has been thrust into the spotlight. In 2010 Google fixed an error in its map of Central America that was blamed for Nicaragua’s accidental invasion of a disputed border area also claimed by Costa Rica.

Also in 2010, a woman unsuccessfully sued Google for providing bad Google Maps directions after she was struck by a car while walking on a rural Utah highway with no sidewalk or pedestrian pathways.

Google declined to comment on this story when contacted by FoxNews.com. Billy L. Nabors Demolition has not yet responded to requests for comment on this story from FoxNews.com.

The search giant urges users to report any errors they encounter with its Maps offering via its ‘Report a data problem in Google Maps’ support page.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2016/03/25/demolition-firm-blames-google-maps-glitch-for-tearing-down-wrong-house.html?cmpid=NL_SciTech#/
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What a story to pass on to family,
' How Google Took Our House '

.

Worker: "But boss, that street sign says Calypso, not Cousteau"

Billy L. Nabors: "The Google thingy says different...tear that bltch down."

Humm one must make sure all their Employees can at least read and write. I mean really you have the address in your hand. You type it into Google and they take you to the same house number different street..

Tell me something when you use the directions you are given do you not read the street signs? Then at that time if the street names are different would you not call your boss??? Or at least go a little farther down the road to see if there is another one.. Many new streets are not on google till they get it updated.

Now I have heard where in the country where there are just lots no signs addresses just lot # and the company themselves wrote the last two numbers down wrong for the guy they sent to the job. And in fact tore down the wrong one..

But in the city where all houses have addresses on them and street signs..

Can't blame that one on google~~~~

Durn Fools held the Tablet Upside Down!

So much for passing the 'literacy' test to graduate high school.

Next stop... Argentina

I'm glad to see that some people realize that it isn't Google's responsibility to make sure the demolition crew is tearing down the place they were sent to topple.

We get stories like this of police raiding the wrong house and assaulting innocent people, and of doctors amputating the wrong part of someone's body, or even cutting in to healthy patients because they failed to check to make sure they were in the right room.

I use Google Maps every day in my work. Anyone who uses them more than a couple of times, will find out very quickly that they are not to be completely trusted.

But these guys are idiots if they actually think they can avoid paying for their incompetence by blaming the fact that they CHOSE to use a free phone ap to do their job.

this is what REALLY happened!

Omg that is funny. That demo chief is history!