Tech giant Google is taking fire for directing drivers in the Lake Tahoe area through potentially dangerous or closed-off routes during record snowstorms in the area. One forest sciences professor told the Masters of the Universe: “You are sending people up a poorly maintained forest road to their death in a severe blizzard.”
The directions came through Google Maps, the most widely used maps application in the world and the default maps app on Android devices.
Google Maps (The Associated Press)
One forest scientist even accused Google of “sending people to their deaths” by directing drivers in the blizzard to take a long, narrow, and poorly-maintained forest road to reach Sacramento, CA from Reno, NV.
“This is an abject failure,” said the researcher, forest sciences professor Crystal Kolden.
Via SFGate:
It appears that Google Maps may have guided weary Lake Tahoe travelers to closed-off and even dangerous roads amid record-setting snowfall.
Social media posts, including from Crystal Kolden, a professor of forest sciences at UC Merced, have condemned the service for redirecting travelers away from closed highways to potentially precarious shortcuts. “This is an abject failure,” tweeted Kolden Monday evening. “You are sending people up a poorly maintained forest road to their death in a severe blizzard.”
A screenshot she shared showed directions through Marysville Road, a fairly narrow, two-lane path going through the Tahoe National Forest.
In a statement to SFGate, a Google spokesperson said the company would take extra measures to ensure the safety of Lake Tahoe travelers during the blizzard.
“In light of the unpredictable conditions from the current snowstorm, our team is working as quickly as possible to update routes in the Lake Tahoe area using details from local authorities. We currently show a winter storm warning to alert drivers in the area, and encourage everyone to stay alert and attentive.”
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. He is the author of #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election.
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