But Google also often uses "shortcuts" that send you through residential areas just to save 1 minute. Esp. in the US if there's no interstate anyway. Instead of keeping you on the large road, GMaps often sends you via small (gravel) roads.
Really? I don't see that happening very often here in Belgium. Unless traffic on the main roads is really really bad, I hardly ever get sent through residential areas.
(We have an incredibly dense road network though, so main roads are usually significantly faster anyway.)
I rarely encounter it in Europe (although it happened to me in rural England), seems to be mostly US. Probably because speed limits on many small roads are the same as on larger roads and local residents drive at the same speed (which Google uses to calculate trip time).
