One of the individuals stuck in the desert uploaded a video on TikTok detailing her ordeal.
Google has issued an apology after some drivers using its Maps application were sent on a dangerous desert road detours in the US. According to Washington Post, the incident took place on November 19 when some families started from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Instead of taking them home, Google Maps took them down a dreadful dirt path during a dust storm in the Mojave Desert. Shelby Easler, whose family was part of the dozen-odd cars stuck in the dangerous area, uploaded a video on her ordeal on TikTok prompting the tech giant to respond.
The drivers were supposed to take the Interstate 15 highway during their journey, but an alternate route suggested by the application took them to the desert between Nevada and southern California.
Ms Easler's family decided to follow the other cars as the app had suggested it would avoid the dust storm and save time.
"Literally, it was leading us nowhere. We went nowhere and then we just ended up getting lost. This is a screengrab I took a phone of Apple Maps and they're like: 'Where are you?'," she told CBS News.
Google Maps claimed that the suggested route would save 50 minutes from their 5.5-hour drive.
"We thought we were avoiding a dust storm. We thought it'd be a little bit safer because of visibility reasons and ironically, that is not what happened," said Ms Easler.
The family finally got to know that they are not on the right path after driver approached them and gave the bad news.
"He's like 'This path leads nowhere. It washes out. Doesn't exist anymore'. Like, you have to turn around," Ms Easler recalled.
After hitting a cactus, a bush and rock, they finally turned around but saw at least 100 cars trying to get out, CBS News said in its report.
The family even called California Patrol for help but was told they are busy helping with collisions from due to the dust storm.
The family returned home 14 hours later and the car suffered damages. "The back right tire came off. The alignment also got messed up somehow. So, they had to tow it," she told the outlet.
Ms Easler's video amassed more than a million views after which a Google spokesperson issued a statement.
"We apologise for what happened last weekend, and can confirm that we'll no longer route drivers traveling between Las Vegas and Los Angeles down these narrow backroads off Interstate 15 near the California-Nevada border. Today, drivers making that trip are being routed through Interstate 15, which has been reopened," the spokesperson Genevieve Park said in the statement.