We do not republish articles from Daily Mail. Our findings are below, each quoting the words it is about. Read the full article on the outlet's own site.
The Daily Mail's headline and opening sentence blame a 'GPS blunder' for the crash that killed Davina Kaur Ruprah, Sachin Kalia and Kiranjeet Sagoo. The article's own inquest material says something different: a call handler failed to log the right junction, the system relied on imprecise phone mast data, and wet weather and excessive speed caused the fatal collision. The body reports the coroner's findings and the victims' lives carefully, but the top of the piece tells readers a technology failure caused the deaths.
Headline goes beyond the article
Serious
“GPS blunder led to fatal crash”
Why this matters
The headline says a 'GPS blunder led to fatal crash', naming a satellite navigation failure as the cause of the deaths.
The impression it gives
A reader believes a GPS fault caused the crash that killed three people.
The context
The inquest material the article quotes says the call handler did not note the Wennington junction, the computer listed the wrong Dagenham junction and the police relied on phone mast data, not GPS. The coroner found that wet weather and excessive speed caused the BMW to aquaplane. The location error delayed officers, which the coroner said meant the crash 'could have been avoided'. That is not the same as causing it. The BBC's report on the same event calls it a call handling error that led to a fatal delay.
How we know
Elsewhere in the article“wet weather and excessive speed caused the BMW 4 Series to aquaplane”
Elsewhere in the article“The MPS call handler did not note the Wennington junction as the location of the incident”
Elsewhere in the article“The area covered by a phone mast is quite wide.”
“a GPS blunder that led to a crash which killed three people”
Why this matters
The opening sentence repeats the cause in the outlet's own voice. It settles the matter before the reader reaches the speed and weather evidence, which the article holds back until S15 to S17.
The impression it gives
A reader who stops after the lead believes the police technology error alone led to the collision.
The context
The article's own later sentences say the BMW was 'travelling well in excess of the speed limit' and that speed and wet weather caused the fatal collision. The error was a call handler's failure to log the location the caller gave, made worse by imprecise phone mast data. The coroner said the right location would 'likely' have let officers arrive before the second collision.
How we know
Elsewhere in the article“travelling well in excess of the speed limit”
Elsewhere in the article“they would likely have arrived before the time of the second collision”
Met Police adopts What3Words after a coroner found a call handling error sent officers to the wrong junction before a crash that killed three people. The inquest heard that excessive speed and wet weather caused the fatal collision, and that officers given the correct location would likely have arrived in time to prevent it.