Apple’s map woes continue… and can possibly kill you

According to a report on ABC News, Australian police in the state of Victoria have rescued six people in the last two months after they were misdirected by Apple’s map app into potentially dangerous and life threatening situations. As the information given by the app is incorrect, directions for the small town of Mildura take you about 70km away to the Murray-Sunset National Park

Inspector Simon Clemence of the Victoria police said: “It’s quite a dangerous situation, so we would be calling for people not to use the new Apple iPhone mapping system if they’re travelling from South Australia to Mildura. If it was a 45-degree day, someone could actually die.” Add to that the fact that some travelers would need to walk long distances to get any cellphone reception.

This happened to Victoria Wake and her partner when they got misdirected on their way to Mildura and were lost for about five hours. “We had no water, we had nothing to eat,” she said. “We had the shelter of the car, but obviously you don’t want to keep running the car and putting the air conditioner because you don’t know how long you’re going to be there.”

Inspector Clemens feels that people rely on GPS directions too much: “I’m sure they were getting a bit suspicious and wary by the time they realised that perhaps something was wrong, but a lot of people put too much faith in sat navs.”

This comes after senior vice president of iPhone software, Scott Forstall, was fired over his refusal to sign an apology for the maps fiasco.

Image: ABC News