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Gudalar is a popular hill town in the Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu.

A man’s car journey back from a hill town in southern India, took an “unexpected turn” when he relied on Google Maps to take the fastest route back to his destination in Karnataka.

Travelling back from Gudalur, a hill town in Tamil Nadu, a man was heading back to Karnataka after spending a relaxing long weekend with his friends. It was business as usual – Putting on the seat belt, enjoying the journey and taking directions from Google Maps, but the fastest route was through a flight of stairs leading toward a road and the ‘unexpected turn’ led to the man’s Toyota Fortuner getting stuck on the “fastest route”, News18 reported.

Gudalar is a popular hill town in the Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu and is located 250 km southwest of Bengaluru. The man had searched for the fastest route to Karnataka and the app suggested a route which passed through the police quarters. 

The man sought assistance from the locals and the police to help him manoeuvre his Fortuner SUV, which has a good ground clearance. The angle of elevation of the staircase was steep, which made it difficult for the driver to steer the vehicle backwards or forward to a safe spot. Even the stairs were of average height and the car bounced when the front wheels moved to the next step.

Locals and the police came to the rescue. Bricks were used to create a makeshift ramp for the car to easily come down the steps without damaging the car. The driver succeeded in taking his car out and the vehicle was on the road. 

Similar incidents have taken place earlier as well. In the US, Google issued an apology after some drivers using its Maps application were sent on dangerous desert road detours. 

The incident took place on November 19 when some families moved from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Instead of taking them home, Google Maps took them down a dreadful dirt path during a dust storm in the Mojave Desert. Shelby Easler, whose family was part of the dozen-odd cars stuck in the dangerous area