The team at Google Maps are constantly on the road taking photos of the world to keep their Street View service up to date. But despite their 15 years of experience, they still manage to make an embarrassing blunder from time to time. While venturing around Grants Road, in Newry, Northern Ireland, the Google Maps Street View car got into a spot of bother after driving under a bridge.
It seems the driver forgot just how tall its camera stands as it was knocked off part way through the bridge. A hilarious series of Street View snaps show the driver entering the bridge, a blurry shot of the camera colliding with its roof, and then the back of the car as the camera presumably hangs down out of place. The blunder has been shared on Reddit on Google_Map_Oddities - and has been upvoted more than 400 times by users who love to see a "mess up" online.
The user explained: "This low overpass knocked the Street View camera off its mount. The last image of the sequence is clearly looking down at the google car, with its stickers on the rear spoiler and windshield wiper on the rear windshield.
"While the camera may not have been detached from the mounting pedestal, it was clearly knocked askew such that it recorded a view down at the car that is not normally included in the street view stitches."
It comes after baffled Google Maps users spotted a 'six-legged' dog walking down the street with its owners in San Jose, California, America.
In one shot outside Los Paseos Park, the dog appears to have six legs and two abdomens, making it look as though it is more than twice the length of the average dog.
But when moving further down the street, you quickly realise it is just another one of Google Maps' unfortunate camera glitches.
One confused social media users said: "I found a dog with six legs and it's very funny."
While another responded: "How is this real?"
Google doesn't reveal when its cars are scheduled to come around, possibly to guard against people from performing stunts when it's on route.
However, they do update their satellite images once every one to three years.
Google Maps launched in February 2005 as a "new solution to help people get from point A to point B". It is now used by more than one billion people all over the world every month.
Most recently, it announced its Live View, which helps users better navigate the world around them by providing them with arrows and directions clearly overlaid on their maps.
A Google Maps statement reads: "We launched Google Maps as a useful way to help people get around.
"As we’ve added features and capabilities, Google Maps has evolved into much more than a website that gives you turn-by-turn directions.
"Today, it’s a gateway to exploring the world—both digitally and in real life, on foot or by car, via public transit or a wheelchair.
"The world is constantly changing, and so is the way we get around in it. And as it does, Google Maps will be there every step of the way, building new tools that help you navigate, explore and get things done, wherever you are."
Do you have a funny story to share? Email paige.freshwater@reachplc.com.
