Waze App Allegedly Caused Tourists’ Car to End up in Lake Champlain, Vermont

The tourists driving through Vermont blamed Waze for directing them into a boat launch in Lake Champlain, prompting the vehicle to slide into the water by the time the drivers realized their location in the dark and foggy weather.

Risk classification

• Primary risk domain: 7 AI system safety, failures, & limitations
• Primary risk subdomain: 7.3 Lack of capability or robustness

The Waze navigation app failed to perform reliably by directing the driver onto a boat launch and into a lake, representing a lack of capability or robustness in its mapping and routing system.

Additional risk subdomains

• 5.1 Overreliance and unsafe use: The driver relied heavily on the GPS instructions despite dark and foggy conditions, demonstrating overreliance on the technology.

Causal factors

• Entity: AI
• Intent: Unintentional
• Timing: Post-deployment

The incident was caused by the Waze navigation app providing incorrect routing instructions post-deployment, which was an unintentional outcome of its goal to navigate the users.

EU AI Act risk tier

• Risk tier: 4 Minimal or No Risk

Minimal or No Risk: The Waze app is a general consumer navigation tool used for convenience, which does not fall under the high-risk categories of the EU AI Act.

AI system and alleged parties

• AI system: Waze (Google)
• AI purpose: Navigation Assistant
• Behaviour type: Assistant
• Alleged developer: Waze
• Alleged deployer: Waze
• Alleged harmed parties: Waze users, tourists

Harm severity

Highest direct severity in any category: Minor. Severity is scored from Negligible to Catastrophic in each harm category, for harm the reports describe as caused directly or indirectly by the AI system.

• Physical: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Infrastructure: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Property: direct Minor, indirect Negligible
• Financial: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Environmental: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Malicious content: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Differential treatment: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Civil rights: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Democracy: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Privacy: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Psychological: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Epistemic: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible
• Child sexual exploitation and abuse: direct Negligible, indirect Negligible

Property

Reported: Yes, the report explicitly describes property damage to the SUV that sank into the lake.

Directly caused: The SUV slid 100 feet into Lake Champlain and sank, remaining submerged for over a week before being retrieved by a salvage team.

Indirectly caused: The ski gear and local craft beer inside the SUV were also submerged and likely damaged.

Inferred additional harm: N/A

People affected

• Occurrences reported: 1
• People reportedly harmed: 3
• People reportedly exposed: 3

Potential causes

Management

• Defensive Corporate Response: Google prioritized liability protection over immediate root cause analysis.

Technology

• Faulty Routing Algorithm: Waze algorithm directed the vehicle onto a boat launch instead of a road.
• Lack of Hazard Warning: The app did not warn the driver that the route ended at a water body.

Data Inputs

• Inaccurate Map Data: The map data incorrectly categorized a boat launch as a standard road.

Human Factors

• Over-reliance on Navigation App: The driver blindly followed GPS instructions despite environmental risks.
• Reduced Visibility: Dark and foggy conditions prevented the driver from seeing the lake ahead.

Process and Methods

• Unverified Map Edits: Map updates rely on user edits without sufficient validation for safety.

Information quality

• Classification confidence: High
• Reason for confidence: The reports provide consistent, clear details about the incident, including the location, date, number of passengers, and the specific failure of the Waze app directing them onto a boat launch.
• Ambiguities identified: The exact technical reason why Waze routed the driver onto the boat launch is not explained, as Google declined to comment without seeing the user's driving file.
• Alternative interpretations: The incident could be interpreted primarily as driver error due to poor visibility (dark and foggy conditions) and alcohol consumption, rather than an AI failure, though the app's faulty routing was verified by the owner later.

A consumer navigation error by the Waze app led tourists onto a frozen lake in Vermont. The incident resulted in minor property damage and no physical injuries, presenting negligible national security implications.

• Overall national security impact: Negligible
• Response level: Minor
• Scope: Single nation
• Primary target: No clear primary
• Alleged perpetrator: Unknown

Threat characteristics

• Imminence: Long-term. The event was an isolated, resolved consumer incident presenting no ongoing national security threat or crisis.
• Autonomy: Human-controlled. The AI provided navigation suggestions, but the human driver retained physical control and final decision-making authority over the vehicle.
• Novelty: Established threat. Navigation errors directing drivers into unsafe locations are well-documented occurrences and do not represent a novel threat vector.

Impact by dimension

• Physical security: Negligible. The incident involved a single consumer vehicle guided by a navigation app onto a frozen lake. No critical infrastructure or military systems were compromised or targeted.
• Information security: Negligible. No intelligence compromise, disinformation campaign, or information warfare operations were associated with this routing error.
• Sovereignty: Negligible. This was a standard civilian traffic mishap with no impact on state authority, border control, or government operations.
• Economic security: Negligible. The economic impact was limited to the loss of a single civilian vehicle and personal belongings, carrying no strategic economic or technological significance.
• Societal stability: Negligible. There was no threat to societal stability, civil liberties, or human rights; it was an isolated navigation accident.