Workers who get in car accidents during their commute to or from work can apply to Taiwan's Bureau of Labor Insurance (BLI) for compensation, but when a Taipei citizen applied he was rejected by the BLI because he didn't follow Google Maps' suggested route, our sister paper Want Daily reports.
Mr Hu, who works for a bank, posted on Facebook that in February 2014 he was returning home from his office on Anhe Road by motorcycle. Finding the most direct route, Keelung Road, to be too crowded, he chose a different route and got into an accident on Roosevelt Road.
After the accident, Hu went to a hospital and applied to the BLI, which later rejected his application saying he didn't follow the route suggested by Google Maps. The BLI demanded Hu pay back the medical expenses of NT$2,222 (US$72.50) that the BLI had paid the hospital on his behalf.
Hu appealed the ruling but was rejected again. He said the BLI was wrong to punish him for his decision to choose a less congested and therefore theoretically less hazardous route.
The BLI said it uses Google Maps to evaluate whether or not a commuting route is reasonable, but does not insist on claimants using the shortest route suggested by Google Maps.
The BLI sent staffers to travel three routes that Hu could have taken. It found routes A and B took 13 and 15 minutes respectively, but route C, the one chosen by Hu, required 28 minutes. Hu's choice was therefore seen as too circuitous and his appeal was rejected.
Huang Yi-ling, executive director of Taiwan Occupational Safety and Health Link, believes the BLI should still cover the insurance because Hu's reason for choosing the other route came from safety concerns.
Some internet users said the routes suggested by Google Maps, though shorter, frequently got them stuck in traffic jams.