PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — More than a dozen drivers found themselves stranded on a snowy northeast Oregon road after GPS directions led them astray on Wednesday, authorities said.
That afternoon, the Union County Sheriff’s Office received an iPhone satellite SOS report of a stranded vehicle on Ruckle Road, a rough and steep gravel road that officials said is not maintained for winter travel.
After county search and rescue (SAR) teams were dispatched, the sheriff’s office then began receiving more iPhone satellite SOS reports in the same area.
Officials said they first thought the reports were all coming from the same vehicle. However, first responders found around 20 other vehicles were either stuck or stranded.
SAR then requested extra help from Union County Public Works, who brought in a road grader to plow out a path for the vehicles.
Officials said it took several hours to get the vehicles unstuck and safely back on the main road.
All of the stranded vehicles had used GPS directions attempting to avoid closures and traffic delays on I-84. This led them all down Ruckle Road, authorities said.
“This incident serves as an important reminder of the need to carefully evaluate, and often not follow, GPS-provided directions, especially in winter months,” Union County SAR said. “The interstate and highways are the best routes through our region during winter conditions, and if they are closed due to weather, or weather-related crashes, it is almost certainly ill-advised and very dangerous to attempt alternate travel routes.”
Similar problems have left drivers stranded before.
In nearby Utah, motorists entering “Utah” into their Google Maps were frequently finding themselves stranded on a remote road on East Mountain. They would then call the Emery County Sheriff’s Office for assistance because they were lost, stuck, or out of gas.
Earlier this year, Google Maps finally changed its directions to “Utah” from the precarious mountain roadway to a spot in Salt Lake City, Nexstar’s KTVX reported.