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IPFS News Link • Technology: Software

Apple Fixes Maps Snafu Dubbed ‘Potentially Life-Threatening’ by Police

• http://www.wired.com, By Christina Bonnington
 Police in Mildura, Victoria, said they’ve had to rescue “a number of distressed motorists that were directed off the beaten track” and stranded in Murray-Sunset National Park. Apple Maps places the town about 43 miles (70 km) away from its actual location.

It’s a potentially deadly mistake, as the location is in the middle of nowhere — the park has no water supply and temperatures can reach 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius).

“We’ve had at least four documented cases,” senior sergeant Stephen Phelan told The Guardian on Monday before Apple made the update. The Guardian reports that Apple updated the map today. When we tried it at 11:15 a.m. PST, the map appeared to have been fixed — Mildura was still labeled on the Map incorrectly, but navigation directions will send you to the town’s actual location. Apple had no comment when contacted by Wired.

Some of the motorists were stranded for up to 24 hours without food or water and “have walked long distances through dangerous terrain to get phone reception,” Victoria police said in a statement.


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