Google Maps is being blamed for leading a number of drivers on their way back to Los Angeles from Las Vegas down a dirt road to nowhere during a dust storm in the Mojave Desert earlier this month.
The unsettling detour happened on Nov. 19 as Shelby Easler, her brother and their significant others were returning to L.A. after enjoying the Formula 1 race in Sin City, SFGATE reported.
In order to avoid a dust storm causing major traffic delays that day, Google Maps suggested an alternate route to I-15, the primary highway connecting Las Vegas to Southern California.
According to the Bay Area outlet, it was the couple’s first time driving back and forth between the two cities and they were unaware that they should just stick to Interstate 15.
“We ironically thought it would be a safer option, and it did say it would be 50 minutes faster,” she told SFGate.
A short time later, Easler and company, along with what appears to be at least a dozen other cars, found themselves on a dirt road in a harsh Nevada desert.
When a man in a “huge truck” traveling in the opposite direction told Easler that the road was washed out in the mountains, essentially becoming a road to nowhere, she and other drivers attempted to turn around, only to find themselves stuck in the loose soil and scrub of the desert path.
After dialing 911 and learning that the California Highway Patrol was busy with the dust storm on I-15, Easler called a towing company which eventually helped her and the other stranded motorists, SFGATE reported.
To add insult to injury, Easler was forced to leave her car at a service center in Vegas because the rear, right tire and her car’s alignment didn’t quite survive the off-roading adventure.
In the end, Easler told SFGATE that from now on she plans to stick to the beaten path.
