Google Maps takes travelers on a shortcut home that instead strands them in Nevada desert: ‘Thought it would be a safer option’

A group of Los Angeles residents heading home from Las Vegas got stranded in the desert after Google Maps reportedly led them on an off-road adventure to avoid traffic caused by a dust storm.

The bumpy ride for Shelby Easler, her brother and their significant others began Sunday when Easler said they were advised by the navigation system to take a quicker off-road route instead of Interstate 15, which was experiencing delays from the storm.

But the Californians wound up getting stuck on the dirt road and had to call a tow truck to pick them up, according to a report.

“We ironically thought it would be a safer option, and it did say it would be 50 minutes faster,” Easler messaged SFGATE over Instagram.

“It was our first time driving to/from Vegas, so we didn’t know that you can really only take the I-15 back and forth.”

In a Tiktok video posted by Easler this week, it showed a line of cars battling the rough road with paved thoroughfares nowhere in sight.

A photo of the navigation appeared to show them cutting across a path with terrain.

“The first driver that turned around talked to us to tell us that the road gets washed out the higher into the mountain you get, and we have to turn around since the path leads nowhere,” she told the outlet. “He was in a huge truck and was just driving straight through the bushes and shrubs to let people know to turn around.”

The group called for help, but the California Highway Patrol wasn’t able to respond as it was dealing with the dust storm emergency, according to TikTok video.

Authorities needed to shut down Interstate 15 both ways at the California-Nevada border as a result of the stormy conditions, SFGate reported.

Eventually, Easler and company called a tow truck that bailed them out, though they were stuck leaving the car in Vegas with considerable damage.

“In the future,” she told SFGate, “I’ll stick to the road I know and double-check somewhere else if the route seems sketchy.”

The Post has sought comment from Google.

This is not the first instance where a navigation system has caused trouble for users.

A hiker needed to be rescued by helicopter this month when he used Google Maps for directions as he attempted to reach the peak of a Vancouver, Canada mountain.

In a lawsuit against Google in September, the family of a North Carolina man who died after he drove off a collapsed bridge blamed the tech giant for the death, saying their loved one was following directions on Google Maps.