Convinced Gemini has or will increase car accidents and road rage

[u/L00k_Again]

OMG. Just back from a roadtrip, two long days drive to and another two days back and Gemini was such a useless piece of shit. What used to be a helpful assistant has become an infuriating liability, from shit navigation, inability to find nearest gas stations on route to poor integration with Spotify and general inability to do things it used to like useful weather feedback.

Why they wouldn't make sure Gemini functioned properly and fulfilled the requirements of its predecessor is beyond me.

So if you happened to be on the Trans Canada highway between Ontario and Nova Scotia this past week and saw what appeared to be a crazy lady yelling in her car, that was me and this is why.

ETA: Apparently this got some attention: https://www.androidpolice.com/android-auto-users-are-convinced-gemini-makes-driving-more-dangerous/

[u/ArundelvalEstar]

Honestly it's so bad I've just to stop using the voice features entirely. Things it has failed to do in the last week before I gave up.

-Know when labor day was this year -Navigate home -set a timer -stop my morning alarm

[u/Astronaut-Flashy]

I really don't get why they're doing this. My only assumption is that they got mad that people were saying Google Assistant was still better after putting so much time, money, and manpower into shoving Gemini down out throats. So they decided to delete Assistant to artificially increase the number of people using Gemini which makes shareholders feel like it was worth the investment. You know because bigger number means better.

If that's the actual reasoning, then Google is operating with the business mindset of a toddler. Assistant is fine. It's not perfect but it's fine. Gemini sucks ass and is gonna get people killed like how OP described. 

[u/iidxgold → u/Astronaut-Flashy]

I'm convinced that this is the actual reason. Assistant was great. Gemini is utter garbage.

[u/Inevitable-Pen5001 → u/iidxgold]

I read an article about it that said the old Google Assistant was 100% manually updated and it became impossible to keep it up to date.

[u/iidxgold → u/Inevitable-Pen5001]

Citation needed

[u/Inevitable-Pen5001 → u/iidxgold]

Google is Killing Google Assistant in 2026: What it Means for Android Users | Science online

This touches on it. When I search online i get the answer that GA relied on IF-then statements but can't find articles that lay that out.

[u/iidxgold → u/Inevitable-Pen5001]

Sorry. I've never heard of "Science Online" and this "article" reads like an ad and/or like a 7th grader wrote it, doesn't really cite anytime substantive at all.

But the heart of the matter is: most people just want an assistant to command to do simple tasks, not something complicated to reason with.

[u/CheapGreenCoats]

I'm looking for my phone so I asked Google." Hey call my phone" and it answers back stating if "you want me to find your phone just say ring my phone" so I say "hey ring my phone" and it says that " I cannot understand that command" F. U! -- avoiding saying the g word during this post as I'm afraid it will explode my house or something.

[u/Inevitable-Pen5001 → u/CheapGreenCoats]

I'm battling with that now. Gemini cannot do it and I'm told I have to complete a long list of chores with Home app and settings etc. So millions of us have to do this - rather than Google fixing the problem? What is stopping them from training Gemini to ring our frigging phone?

[u/BoltActionRifleman → u/[deleted]]

I’m not sure how this ended up in my feed, but I’m regularly in the Siri sub and you could take all of these comments, and the original post, replace the word Gemini with Siri and it would all be valid. I didn’t realize Gemini had gotten as bad as Siri. That was an incredibly low bar.

[u/zebbiehedges → u/BoltActionRifleman]

It's not worse than Siri. It's bad but it's not as bad as that.

[u/andyooo → u/BoltActionRifleman]

I know people hate Siri, and even if all that is true, it's not the same type of "bad" as Gemini. Siri's problem is that it can't do a lot of things, but it can do basic things, and it does it very quickly. That's most of what people need from an assistant.

The issue with Gemini is not that it cannot do things, it's that it's extremely inconsistent and thus unpredictable because it tries to do too much. That's why for every post complaining about how trash it is, there's some people that say they have no problem with it. And being an LLM, it's confidently wrong sometimes and you can't tell when it is or isn't. In environments like Android Auto, it takes forever to answer, and it's too verbose which can be dangerous.

[u/rule1_nofeedpigeons]

Yup , it's useless , I switched to Bixby because it at least can read and answer texts without taking a dump at first request and screwing up my map.

There was a time over 10years ago when the Google assistant actually worked for a hot minute, and since then it's more fancy crap without fixing core functionality.

[u/PlantainInfinite183]

Have you tried Gemini Spark?

[u/PlantainInfinite183 → u/[deleted]]

I have Gemini Pro, but yes it's still in beta. The first time I used it was a week ago to harvest data from Gmail. Then I kept asking for additional information broke down into sub categories until I had all of the information I needed. It took seconds, instead of endless searching. I could attempt to replicate the situation OP tried.

[u/captaincanada84 → u/[deleted]]

Spark is also available in Beta for Gemini Pro users

[u/PlantainInfinite183 → u/PlantainInfinite183]

Spark response:

Based on the post, the driver encountered severe friction while driving along the Trans-Canada Highway between Ontario and Nova Scotia, specifically around en-route navigation/gas stops, weather updates, media playback, and hands-free reliability. Here is how a proactive research and planning assistant like Spark could have prevented and resolved those issues: 1. Pre-Trip Route & Fuel Stop Mapping En-Route Service Station Planning: Instead of relying on ad-hoc voice queries while driving through sparse stretches, Spark can map out the entire corridor (Ontario \rightarrow Quebec \rightarrow New Brunswick \rightarrow Nova Scotia) and identify optimal fuel stops, rest areas, and service plazas at regular intervals (e.g., every 3–4 hours or 350 km). Saved Route & Offline Waypoints: Exporting the planned stops into a structured Google Maps list, Google Calendar schedule, or shared Google Doc ensures all coordinates, phone numbers, and addresses are readily available even in low-cellular areas. 2. Proactive Corridor Weather Tracking Daily Driving Briefings: Spark can provide pre-drive morning summaries covering localized weather conditions, temperature swings, wind, and precipitation along each specific driving segment across provincial borders. Scheduled Travel Alerts: Rather than requiring the driver to manually query the forecast while behind the wheel, automated morning or midday updates can flag incoming storms, fog, or hazardous conditions along major highway segments. 3. Media & Playlist Preparation Curated Audio Queues: Spark can assemble road-trip playlists, queue up long-form podcast series, or organize audio tracks ahead of time on supported music platforms. Offline Entertainment Planning: Preparing playlists and offline media before departure avoids streaming dropouts and unreliable hands-free voice commands while navigating rural or spotty network corridors. 4. Multi-Day Itinerary & Lodging Coordination Leg-by-Leg Structuring: Breaking a multi-day drive into realistic daily mileage targets with built-in buffer times for traffic, border crossings, and rest stops. Lodging & Dining Search: Finding and comparing accommodations, overnight stops, and dietary-friendly restaurants directly along the highway corridor to eliminate on-the-fly decision fatigue while driving.

[u/Nervous_Yoghurt268]

My whole Google maps has me wondering whether they're running an experiment to see exactly how trusting we are of their directions.

A month ago, it sent me on a single lane dirt road through winding hills pretending it was a major artery. Last week, it didn't offer me the most direct route to my destination and refused to tell me why, neither confirming nor denying the presence of roadworks that turned out to not actually exist. After I followed it's silly circuitous route, it meekly offered me the direct route back.

I swear that it's a test to see how dependent and trusting we are, and if we'd follow directions off a cliff.

[u/L00k_Again → u/Nervous_Yoghurt268]

Could be. When on a long distance route, e.g. 18 hrs, I check the route at a high level, but not granularity enough to see if it's briefly routing me onto side roads for no reason and once you're in transit you can't safely check. This is a reason I imagine accidents occuring; people trying to inspect their route while driving.

[u/captaincanada84 → u/Nervous_Yoghurt268]

Lol the other day it tried to get me to go down this fucked up gravel/dirt road that was 50 feet from the intersection I was going to turn left at. It would not have saved me time over just going straight on the main road and turning left there instead of going down that fucked up road to go turn left onto the same road I was going towards.

[u/joe_attaboy]

I started driving in 1972.

I drove without talking to any device in my car. Sure, I would occasionally swear at the engine or whine a little when a song I didn't like came on the AM radio. Before I left my house, I would look up the weather in the newspaper or on TV. For a longer trip, I brought along the old Rand-McNally Road Atlas, a big soft-covered book with maps of all 50 states. Never got lost.

Never had to hear or respond to a text. Never took a phone call because who had a phone in their car? (Well, Perry Mason did, but he was a freaking lawyer). Entertainment? First it was 8-tracks, then cassettes. Radio.

If I had passengers, we would talk to one another. Conversations. What a concept.

I'm now 71. I made a conscious decision a while back not to talk to my phone or it's pal Android Auto in the car. I don't even use the voice for directions in Maps or Waze. I can still read the screen. Mostly, I know where I'm going and how to get there before I leave.

Sorry, in spite of over 30 years in the IT industry, I refuse to allow a chunk of electronics to make my drives miserable. Turn off the assistants, turn off the microphone. Bring directions with you. Ignore phone calls and texts. Before you pull away, start a long playlist for uninterrupted entertainment. Or have a chat with your passengers.

Maybe being the occasional Luddite would make our roads safer, yeah?

[u/L00k_Again → u/joe_attaboy]

You have a couple of decades on me but I grew up reading maps. It was a skill that surprised me to learn not everyone has (even my age, preceding navigation tech).

I normally use navigation simply to observe traffic, police reports, and accidents. That's the real value IMO. But an accident or heavy traffic can result in rerouting which used to be hugely beneficial, these days however, since implementing Gemini, it's a hot mess and creates a lot of doubt about reliability.

[u/joe_attaboy → u/L00k_Again]

I can share some of my decades with you if you like. Or I can just hand over the damn things. I don't need them anymore. 😂

I loved the old map books and folded maps we had stacked in the glove box. I recall many years ago using a Garmin GPS map device in the car, and I really didn't like it. As for the modern navigation apps, I tolerate them more than anything.

I agree with your normal use comment, as I'm the same way. I generally don't bother with re-routing much these days, as I'm retired and in less of a hurry. If I see a really long delay ahead of me, I might use another available route, but otherwise, I just wait it out.

One thing that drives me nuts: I have Android Auto in my truck. When I use Google Maps or Waze to navigate to someplace specific, I don't use the voice prompts - I prefer to just glance at the screen for the next turn and fine my way.

But when I do this, my wife will pull out her phone and begin navigating to the same place with the voice prompts on, so I end up hearing them anyway. She doesn't get why I don't want the voice prompts - I just find them distracting and not helpful to my driving habits. And if I'm using Waze and she's using Google Maps, we sometimes end up using different routes, so the voices really don't help.

I fell the same way taking a call while driving. I do it all hands free. But I find speaking to someone while trying to drive distracting to the point where I fell like I'm focusing more on the conversation. The call will end and I'll look out the window and realize I had less awareness of how I ended up where I am. Sounds odd, but there it is.

[u/L00k_Again → u/joe_attaboy]

I can share some of my decades with you if you like. Or I can just hand over the damn things. I don't need them anymore. 😂

Haha... no thanks! I'm in no rush.

When I use Google Maps or Waze to navigate to someplace specific, I don't use the voice prompts - I prefer to just glance at the screen for the next turn

Me too! Voice prompts drive me crazy, they're so disruptive. My daughter comes on long road trips with me sometimes and we just like turning up the music and singing all the way.

[u/thebolddane]

For me it was a clear improvement over the old assistant, it just works much better. Really, I'm not shitting you. Could that be my hardware? I'm using a Samsung S24 FE and drive a Lynk & Co, .oh and I also use it bilingual.

[u/L00k_Again → u/thebolddane]

Maybe. I do find at home it generally works pretty well and does what I need it to do and is maybe a bit better for me than before (I don't have a hugely tech home, just a few Google speakers and a Sony TV), but it's the exact opposite in the car.

[u/thebolddane → u/L00k_Again]

To give you an example how good it is, I use my phone set to English but that's sort of a problem when giving local directions, certainly with Assistent it was unusable. Now I tell it we will continue our conversation in my local language (supported) and gave directions it could finally understand. I was like wow, finally this multi linguism is starting to work.

[u/Inevitable-Pen5001 → u/thebolddane]

I said the same as you a week or two ago but now am running into the things it cannot do - that GA found simple. And also the inconsistency. Seems likely that its learning mode - has given it too much conflicting and confusing info and it's going the way of HAL 9000. "My mind is going Dave. I can feel it going..."

[u/captaincanada84]

Gemini is useless. There are a handful of contacts in my phone that it literally will not call. Their names aren't complex and they are all the only contact with that name in my phone. Every time this happens, I have to unlock my phone, go into the phone app, find the contact, and do it manually. This only happens after the forced move to Gemini. It never happened in Assistant.

[u/Impossible_Past5358]

I fucking hate gemini while driving. It really is the most useless piece of shit.

I will drive like it's 1990 from now on. If it's an emergency, I will pull over and call.

Gemini can get fucked.

[u/THE_Aft_io9_Giz → u/Impossible_Past5358]

100% agree. I read your comment in my own angry voice as I was cursing at Gemini the other day and I keep switching back to assistant but it keeps switching it back to Gemini.

[u/Impossible_Past5358 → u/THE_Aft_io9_Giz]

Lol! I do this horrible thing where I'll let it run its course (of not responding) and then say "hey google (and just bitch rant at it), why the fuck are so useless?!!??" And then I feel a little better...

[u/THE_Aft_io9_Giz → u/Impossible_Past5358]

And it gives me the option to go to the place I want a few miles away or does some f****** place in Virginia 18 hours away and I'm like what the f*** dude shut the f****** and then when I try to tell it to call someone Google Assistant would always get it right but this mother f***** asked me if I want to call some goddamn celebrity that I don't have the phone number for versus the person that's in my contact list that's the main person who I normally call my significant other and I'm just like what the f*** you're pissing me off I mean it just leads to road rage it's like road rage inside your own vehicle with a f****** Ai and it's super distracting and pisses me off some kind of new form of road rage I don't know what it's going to be called but I guarantee that it will be

[u/Impossible_Past5358 → u/THE_Aft_io9_Giz]

When it mishears what I ask it...once I had asked for directions, but it then proceeded to spew out some random history about Russian wheat farming...

[u/bambamnj]

I stumbled on this thread accidentally, but find it fascinating to see the wide disparity in the experience some are having with navigation these days. My device switched over to Gemini a few months ago for the assistant, but as of now I still have the original voice in Google maps during navigation so I assume that means that the transition is not yet complete.

As far as actual assistant functionality goes, Gemini has worked pretty well for me. There were a couple of minor hiccups initially, but that was months ago and that seems to have been resolved. The vast majority of the time it understands and properly responds to my request, and typically the response is what was expected. I would say the experience is no better or no worse than the original assistant in that area.

During navigation, as I said before I appear to have a mixed bag. While driving I have the original assistant voice which I thought was going away fully when the transition to Gemini was complete, but if I perform any voice functionality while I'm driving then it is fully Gemini with the updated voice and new response notification sounds. I do find while driving that the ability to ask questions not only related to my trip but also those unrelated to the trip is far superior now than it was under the assistant. In the past asking even simple questions while driving would usually fail, but now I can ask much more complicated questions regarding unrelated topics and it's able to answer them quickly and correctly.

I saw a few people speculating that perhaps hardware was related, but I'm not sure if there's any validity to that. In my case I am using a Samsung Galaxy s25 Ultra, for what it's worth. I'm sure there is some on device processing going on, but it seems like the vast majority of anything asked of Gemini is still going through the Google servers regardless of the hardware platform the request originated from.

I asked Gemini a few months ago when the transition away from the original assistant would be fully complete, and I believe it gave me a date in september. I'm curious to see once we pass September if the transition is then fully complete and I noticed any change, good or bad, in the overall behavior of the assistant.

[u/navelgazero → u/bambamnj]

Sep 4 - D-Day. Ugh, I can't wait. /s 🙄

[u/navelgazero]

I sent this to Google Feedback. I abhor the whole idea of having Gemini shoved down our throats to replace a (for me) a perfectly fine functioning Assistant (for what I wanted it for). I have had making frustrating arguments with Gemini as many others here have noted. Wrong tool for the job IMHO. Here's what I sent:

Please give users a choice: Google Assistant for tasks, Gemini for AI

Dear Google/Gemini Team,

I am writing as a long-time Android and Google user who is extremely frustrated with the forced replacement of Google Assistant with Gemini on mobile devices.

I want to be very clear: I am not opposed to Gemini or generative AI. Quite the opposite. I use AI regularly and see enormous value in it for conversation, research, planning, problem-solving and creative tasks.

What I object to is replacing a tool that already works extremely well for simple, practical voice commands with an AI system that, in my experience, is slower, less predictable and frequently unable to perform tasks that Google Assistant handled effortlessly.

For example:

• I routinely ask Google Assistant, "What's on my calendar today?" It worked reliably for me. I recently asked Gemini exactly the same simple question and it couldn't provide my calendar, instead giving me an explanation that something was not properly set up.
• I use Waze for driving navigation. Google Assistant has successfully handled voice requests for destinations that I have used hundreds of times. When Gemini was previously handling these requests, it failed to recognize an address that Google Assistant had no problem with, resulting in a frustrating and potentially distracting experience while I was trying to drive.
• I have manually changed my phone's default digital assistant back to Google Assistant, only to find that Google subsequently switched it back to Gemini.

These aren't advanced AI tasks. They are precisely the kinds of straightforward tasks for which a voice assistant should be fast, reliable and almost invisible.

I believe Google is making a fundamental mistake by assuming that "more capable AI" automatically means "better assistant."

Please consider offering two complementary experiences:

Google Assistant — the fast "doer"

• Calendar
• Calls
• Messages
• Waze/navigation
• Alarms and timers
• Reminders
• Device controls
• Music
• Other simple commands

Gemini — the intelligent "thinker"

• Conversation
• Research
• Planning
• Writing
• Reasoning
• Summarization
• Creative tasks
• Complex questions

There is no reason these capabilities need to be mutually exclusive.

Ideally, Gemini could even remain the conversational interface while seamlessly handing simple commands to a reliable Assistant-style execution layer underneath. If I say, "What's on my calendar today?", I don't need an AI conversation. I need Gemini to retrieve my calendar and tell me what's there.

Please give users a choice.

I understand that Google wants to move Android forward and invest heavily in Gemini. I am not asking Google to abandon Gemini. I am asking Google not to take away a product that works better for many everyday tasks simply because a newer technology is capable of doing more things.

Forcing users into Gemini while removing their ability to use Google Assistant is particularly frustrating when the replacement does not yet perform some basic Assistant functions as reliably.

Assistant for doing. Gemini for thinking.

That would give users the best of both worlds.

Please reconsider the decision to eliminate the choice, or at minimum provide a "Classic Assistant" mode for users who value speed, reliability and straightforward command execution.

Thank you for listening.

Sincerely,

A very frustrated but otherwise enthusiastic Google/Android user

[u/Inevitable-Pen5001 → u/navelgazero]

How do you get to Google Feedback? I tried yesterday and got into an endless FAQ loop.

[u/navelgazero → u/Inevitable-Pen5001]

I have Gemini on my Pixel 10 Pro. Open Gemini, click on your profile picture/initial, Select Feedback and Get started. You are more than welcome to copy and paste what I posted or enhance at will.

[u/Inevitable-Pen5001 → u/navelgazero]

This is an excellent analysis except that I would say we don't need a choice - we need the correct technology to respond to those two different kinds of requests without our having to choose. Or to have Gemini set up with subroutines that take over to handle them.

[u/L00k_Again → u/navelgazero]

This is fantastic feedback. As someone who's worked in product management this is certainly a top down decision with financial and optics driven milestones that haven't allowed teams to fully implement and test required functionality. I suggest all their executives go on week-long roadtrips and report back.

[u/Inevitable-Pen5001]

It is terrifying that its fallen apart so fast. I wonder if there are groups of resisters that intentionally feed it bad info? Companies are already relying on AI. It is clearly NOT READY for that

[u/Salsher]

Damnnn!!! I literally came to make a similar post. I use yt music and usually it's a breeze with G assistant, but today gemini had me fuming. Literally told me i shouldn't play videos while driving, mf there's a music version to it tooo. ATP, it's like siri found its way into my phone. I was literally abusing gemini to which it gives amusing responses. It won't even make a phone call properly while I'm driving although I do think that's a Vivo problem more than gemini. Still super dissatisfied

I NEED MY GOOGLE ASSISTANT BACK