A handheld GPS typically offers a few options: (a) fastest route, (b) simplest route, (c) shortest route. These problems happen to people who pick (c) or worse,

A handheld GPS typically offers a few options: (a) fastest route, (b) simplest route, (c) shortest route. These problems happen to people who pick (c) or worse, pick (c) with an added "avoid major roads" modifier. Which can be a great option if you are hiking or biking or sightseeing and want to see the "real country" and don't care how long the trip takes or how bad the roads are. The main thing this says for autonomous cars is: don't do that. If the routing algorithm has a bias towards picking highways and major roads and roads you've used before, this problem should virtually never come up.