Police say instead of navigating to a destination, GPS devices have been sending drivers into dangerous situations in Augusta, Maine.
"I think what put it on our radar was two incidents, back to back," said Augusta Police Deputy Chief Jared Mills.
According to Mills, at least three GPS-related incidents happened during Tuesday's snowstorm. One commercial truck driver told police a device sent him the wrong way down a busy one-way street.
"Certainly, a head-on collision yesterday could have been disastrous, especially in a snowstorm," said Mills.
It's not clear if the storm disrupted the GPS signal.
Another vehicle crashed into Deanna Desimone's house around the same time. She lives feet from the Kennebec River, at the bottom of a treacherous hill.
"Yesterday, that hill was not sanded at all," she said.
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Police say that driver was also following GPS, and that paying closer attention to surroundings and conditions could have prevented it.
"If somebody from out of state's relying on a GPS - I don't really know what you can see, how steep the hill is, until you're actually into it and can't get out of it," said Desimone.
Police say if you must drive during a snowstorm, you should map out your route ahead of time. Don't be distracted by GPS or blindly follow the instructions into dangerous situations.
"We would certainly rather have you take a wrong turn and be a little bit inconvenienced," Mills said, "than to get into a traffic crash."
