Travellers stranded in desert after taking Google Maps shortcut to avoid traffic

A group was stuck in a desert after following Google Maps directions

A bid to shave off 50 minutes from their travel time left a group of Americans stranded in a desert for hours. The group of Californians took a shortcut suggested by Google Maps while returning to Los Angeles from Las Vegas on November 19, reported SFGate.

Shelby Easler, her brother Austin and their partners were headed back to Los Angeles after attending a Formula 1 race in Las Vegas when Google Maps suggested they avoid the major highway that connects the two cities.

Google Maps predicted heavy delays on the Interstate 15 highway and suggested an alternative route that took the group into Nevada’s deserts. The Californians ended up getting stuck on the dirt road.

“We ironically thought it would be a safer option, and it did say it would be 50 minutes faster,” Easler told SFGate. “It was our first time driving to/from Vegas, so we didn’t know that you can really only take the I-15 back and forth.”

Easler and family were not the only ones who did not know this. Her video shows several other cars stuck on the same road. “The first driver that turned around talked to us to tell us that the road gets washed out the higher into the mountain you get, and we have to turn around since the path leads nowhere,” she said. “He was in a huge truck and was just driving straight through the bushes and shrubs to let people know to turn around.”

The group first called California Highway Patrol, which could not help as it was dealing with a dust storm emergency. They then got in touch with a tow truck service that came to their rescue.

“In the future,” Easler told SFGate, “I’ll stick to the road I know and double-check somewhere else if the route seems sketchy.”