Apple Maps Are Leaving People Stranded in the Outback

This article is from the archive of our partner .

Just when you thought the trouble caused by Apple's awful new Maps app had tapered off, fresh reports from Australia suggest that the worst is far from over. Police in the state of Victoria issued a warning on Monday "urging motorists to be careful when relying on the mapping system on the Apple i-phones operating on the iOS 6 system." Turns out the famously flawed maps are directing people trying to drive to the small town of Mildura into the middle of the desert, dozens of miles away from civilization, where it's entirely possible that they may die.

Evidently, the local Mildura police have had to deal with a number of iPhone toting motorists who've made distress calls after being led astray by Apple Maps. "Police are extremely concerned as there is no water supply within the Park and temperatures can reach as high as 46 degrees, making this a potentially life threatening issue," Victoria Police said in a press release. "Some of the motorists located by police have been stranded for up to 24 hours without food or water and have walked long distances through dangerous terrain to get phone reception."

This is pretty bad. The psychedelic distortion of bridges and highways was funny at first, and it was too bad when New York Times tech writer and Apple fanboy number one David Pogue showed up late to a speaking appearance after his iPhone led him astray. It's pretty next level when the app is sending people out into the middle of a Mad Max sequel without water and probably at risk of a gruesome kangaroo attack. Apple might want to think about fixing this glitch. And firing more people certainly won't get it done.