Google Maps has issued an apology after leaving multiple cars stranded in the desert off of 1-15 earlier this month. The cars in the nightmare detour followed the suggested directions given to them by Google Maps on the way back to Los Angeles after enjoying the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix festivities.
KTLA 5 reported that Shelby Easler and her family were taking the well-known I-15 route on Nov. 19 when a dust storm shut down parts of the interstate, so they decided to use a detour suggested by Google Maps navigation to avoid the storm. Easler told KTLA 5 that she thought it would be safer to take the suggested route than driving through the dust storm.
“It was like a dust storm warning on this side, then an alternative route that would save you 50 minutes,” said Easler. Deciding that the alternate route seemed safer, Easler’s brother chose to follow the directions given through Google Maps.
After two hours of driving through paved mountain roads, the roads disappeared, leaving them in the remote desert. However, they were alone; hundreds of others were led on the same route.
The line of deserted cars can be seen in a viral TikTok Easler posted about the experience.
The family was ultimately stranded in gridlock traffic for five hours near Kingston Peak. Eventually, their car was towed as the damage from the terrain had made the vehicle undrivable.
Gillian and David Strull were traveling in another car, almost affected by Google Maps’ misdirection. In a rush to make their show in Las Vegas, they noticed that the estimated arrival time on Gillian’s Google Maps was only increasing. In an attempt to find a faster route, they plugged the directions into David’s Google Maps.
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David told KTLA 5 that the app was telling them to “get off at Cima Road and take some other back country road.” Unsure of this, they chose to stay on the familiar and safe route, saving them from hours of traffic on a dessert road.
Google has since released a statement apologizing for the desert detour: “We apologize for the incident that happened last weekend and can confirm that we’ll no longer route drivers traveling between Las Vegas and Barstow down through those roads. Today, drivers making that trip are being routed through I-15, which has been reopened.”
KTLA 5 asked officials at the California Highway Patrol about the incident about the incident. They said that these types of desert detours are actually common in that area and suggest that drivers stick to familiar routes, not strictly following the navigation.
