Australian
police have warned travellers off using Apple's troubled iPhone mapping
software after several motorists became stuck in a snake-infested,
desert corner of the country while using their phone for directions.
Police
in southeast Victoria state said they had been forced to rescue a
number of motorists who had become stuck for up to 24 hours "without
food or water" after being directed to the arid Murray Sunset National
Park, instead of the tourist town of Mildura, 70km away.
"We
had a fellow trapped in there just on Friday night after his car became
bogged. He saw a snake, a goat and a fox, and he was too scared to get
out of the car," Mildura police Inspector Simon Clemence told Reuters on Tuesday.
The
Murray-Sunset National Park is in Victoria's far northwest, a
relatively untouched semi-arid region accessible only by
four-wheel-drive vehicle.
Clemence
said at least six vehicles had become stuck on the desert park's sandy
tracks after being directed by the iOS mapping system to turn off a long
and infrequently sign-posted stretch of highway between South
Australia state and Victoria.
Clemence
said at least six vehicles had become stuck on the desert park's sandy
tracks after being directed by the iOS mapping system to turn off a long
and infrequently sign-posted stretch of highway between South
Australia state and Victoria.
"These
people have still been rescuable. But we've just had a 46C day. If they
were out there in that temperature and out of phone range, they would
have been in serious trouble," he said.
Clemence
said police had contacted Apple over the issue. But while the world's
most valuable company had now rectified Mildura's location for people
travelling from South Australia, motorists seeking directions
from Melbourne city were still being directed off course by iOS.
Source: The Daily Chilli
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