Actually, I ran into a situation you all might like on this topic. I was visiting a friend staying with someone in a shady area somewhat between OK areas and The Hood. Easy route to get there on a major highway that keeps you away from harm. Now, I have to see another friend in Middle America (aka "the burbs") which can be reached same way with one exit leading to Interstate. Just use the GPS to find last, odd roads on the route. Results surprised me.

Route 1: Turn left here, right here, right here, left here, highway here, odd roads here. 30 minutes.

Route 2: Get back on highway, drive a while, Interstate, drive a while, odd roads. 33 minutes.

Thing is, I recognized each street in route 1: The Hood(s) with about 300 cops a shift who can't keep up with the amount of stuff that goes down. The other was a straight, safe shot. I thought, "Is Google really trying to send me through all the worst areas of my city... areas where you have to stop right next to potential carjackers and killers... just to save three minutes?"

Now I know why people coming through think my city is just a shithole. It's a mix of great, good, OK, bad, and ugly but Google keeps sending people through The Hood. No wonder they think it's nothing but poverty and crime. So, then I got the idea for a movie or TV show where there's a serial killer that, SAW-style, makes people kill themselves. By Google Maps instructions they follow blindly into the worst areas. You might see it on TV but you heard it here first.

Yeah, don't trust the GPS's until they know the difference between an armed robbery and an Interstate. At the least, they need to realize we won't take that kind of risk unless we're talking about saving 30min to hours, the interview is too important for Interstate traffic, or she was one bad-ass lady. Not over three minutes, though. ;)