EMERY COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — Over the previous a number of years, Emery County has had an issue with drivers placing “Utah” into Google Maps and turning into stranded on East Mountain. After strain following the worst incident yet, Google corrected the problem.
Emery County’s Sheriff Tyson Huntington mentioned that a number of occasions per thirty days, they obtain a name for assist — normally round midnight or later — coming from a distant highway on East Mountain.
The Emery County Sheriff’s Office supplied ABC4.com with info on 9 circumstances from the previous two years the place vacationers had been stranded on East Mountain — both misplaced, caught or out of gasoline — after their navigation system had directed them up the mountain highway.
“We’ve had an issue with folks touring into Utah and so they’ll put simply ‘Utah’ into their Google search … and it leads them to this distant space of our county,” Huntington mentioned.
The vacationers within the circumstances had been usually households and vacationers from out of state who had been unfamiliar with the world. He mentioned they’d sort in “Utah” and observe the instructions up East Mountain, ultimately calling for emergency assist.
In each case, search and rescue groups had been in a position to assist them and their vehicles get off the mountain. Nonetheless, officers say Friday’s incident was “the worst one to this point.”
An 18-wheel semi-truck hauling a 53-foot reefer stuffed with Crimson Bull was directed by his navigation system to take the highway, however bought caught within the mud, teetering on a steep hill. The motive force was rescued and the semi-truck was retrieved the next day.
The sheriff’s workplace mentioned it has contacted Google in regards to the concern roughly 40 occasions over the previous years and even positioned indicators on the highway warning motorists to not proceed in the event that they had been following Google Maps to “Utah” or in the event that they weren’t geared up for the terrain.
“We’ve needed to take these steps to attempt to have the ability to mitigate the issues, however we haven’t had any luck with Google till right this moment,” Huntington mentioned on June 3.
After the semi-truck almost fell down a hill over the weekend, the sheriff’s workplace info expertise division reached out to Google once more on Monday hoping to see a change. ABC4 additionally reached out to the expertise firm on Friday (the day of the incident) and acquired a response saying they’d ship an announcement on Monday.
Earlier than a Google spokesperson despatched the assertion late Monday afternoon, the problem had been fastened.
“We use a number of sources to replace the map – together with contributions from the neighborhood, info from native authorities, together with Avenue View and satellite tv for pc imagery. We’ve up to date this route on our map and it ought to be mirrored within the coming days.”
Google spokesperson
Huntington mentioned he’s “tremendous excited” it has been fastened and expects there to be considerably fewer calls from the world now that Google has modified the placement of Utah’s pin.
“We’re comfortable that [travelers] gained’t run into that drawback anymore, it gained’t injury their autos or trigger issues, after which we’re in a position to maintain our sources in probably the most populous areas of our county,” he mentioned.
He mentioned that whereas getting stranded was not the drivers’ fault, these incidents present the significance of being ready with water and granola bars, in addition to checking the route forward of time.
“It goes to point out that you may’t all the time anticipate what’s going to happen, we all the time should be ready for issues that we don’t anticipate,” he mentioned. ” If one thing appears bizarre or one thing appears [not] proper, cease and discover out what’s occurring earlier than you proceed.”
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