Poor Lane Guidance in the UK

Google Maps tips & tricks
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Hi everyone,

I’ve noticed that lane guidance in Google Maps across the UK is almost always wrong. On motorways, roundabouts and at complex junctions, the instructions often direct you into the wrong lane, which can make it unsafe or impossible to follow the route correctly.

This isn’t just an occasional mistake — it feels like a consistent problem across the country. Lane guidance often adds more confusion than clarity.

I’ve tried submitting corrections through the app, sometimes using the Other field to explain exactly what’s wrong, but these reports are usually rejected or changed to something else that’s still incorrect.

A few questions I’d love clarity on:

  • Is lane guidance data managed entirely internally by Google?

  • Is there a better way to flag these issues so they’re actually addressed?

Right now, lane guidance in the UK feels unreliable to the point of being unusable, and it would be great to know if there’s any path for improvements.

Thanks,

Ahmed

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Hi @AhmedTagelsir

Welcome to Connect, and thanks for your post.

You might be correct that the guidance is wrong, but most often the issue is related to the available road data. If the road/lane data is correct, the algorithms will normally provide you with correct guidance.

The procedure to report a wrong step in a navigation is to use a desktop computer and recreate the wrong step. It can then be reported individually as explained here:
Report wrong directions in Google Maps - Computer - Google Maps Help

It is not super easy. And you are welcome to ask for more help on this should you decide to try.

As Local Guides cannot specify individual lanes on a road, there is no point in trying to correct the roads yourself. Instead, in places where there are fewer such issues, the local authorities have entered into a geodata partnership with Google Maps, as explained here:

https://contentpartners.maps.google.com/welcome

So the most effective intervention would be to reach out to your local authorities and inquire if they are aware of how their detailed road data can be shared on Google Maps. And if they already do, you should exemplify a few errors in their data. If they fix the issues in their data, this will automatically be reflected on Google Maps after the next sync/upload.

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Hi @ErmesT

Do you want to add to or correct my reply above?

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Apropos allowing Google access to detailed national data, I just read this article:

You may want to check it out. To me, it confirms that Google Maps need access to national highly detailed Maps to work properly.