A California woman is calling out Google Maps for leading her and three family members down a dirt road into the middle of the Mojave Desert earlier this month.
Shelby Easler says she, her husband, her brother and her brother's wife were returning to Los Angeles after attending the Formula 1 race in Las Vegas on November 19 when her Google Maps app suggested an alternate route to avoid a dust storm that was causing major delays on I-15, SFGATE reported.
"We ironically thought it would be a safer option, and it did say it would be 50 minutes faster," Easler told the outlet.
However, after driving into the middle of the desert and finding the road -- more like an off-roading trail -- was closed, Easler tried to turn around but found herself stuck in loose sand.
"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. He was in a huge truck and was just driving straight through the bushes and shrubs to let people know to turn around," Easler told SFGATE.
What's more is at least a dozen other motorists got stuck there as well. Easler posted about the ordeal in a TikTok video that has since gone viral.
Easler said she called 911, but the California Highway Patrol told her all officers were busy dealing with crashes along the freeway from the dust storm.
After waiting hours for a tow truck to arrive, Easler's car and the other vehicles were finally freed from the sand trap -- but the L.A.-bound group still couldn't go home. It turned out the rough ride through the desert had damaged the vehicle's alignment and one of the rear wheels, so the car had to be towed to a shop.
Easler said the next time she makes the trip, she's staying on I-15 -- dust storm or not.
In a statement to The Washington Post, a spokesperson for Google said the app would no longer recommend the route that Easler took.
"We apologize 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," the statement said. "Today, drivers making that trip are being routed through Interstate 15, which has been reopened."