Australian Police: Apple Maps Could Get Someone Killed

Archive, News by SmartHouse AdminDecember 10, 2012June 17, 2017 Share

Drivers using Apple’s navigation with the intention of going to the town of Mildura are being wrongly directed to the middle of the Murray-Sunset National Park, approximately 70 kilometres where Mildura is actually located.

The town of Mildura, population 30,000, according to Apple Maps

As there is no water supply within the park and temperatures can reach 46 degrees, Police are “extremely concerned” as this is “a potentially life threatening issue.”

According to acting Senior Sergeant Sharon Darcy writing on the Victoria Police News site, “motorists located by the police haven been stranded for up to 24 hours without food or water and have walked long distances through dangerous terrain to get phone reception.”

When Apple rolled out the latest version of its iPhone software, iOS 6, it replaced the reliable Google Maps with its own Apple Maps navigation. Apple Maps has been universally panned for being unreliable and inaccurate. Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, offered a public apology on Apple’s website and has fired the executive managing the software.

Police have reported the issue to Apple and are warning Victorians “should rely on other forms of mapping.”