Weird things often show up on Google Maps' street view feature. This time, Google accidentally created the content.
The van that shoots images for street view hit a fawn while shooting in Rush, New York, and for a while the image was up on Street View for all to see. As people took notice Google blacked it out.
Google also released a statement:
“Gathering the imagery for Street View requires quite a bit of driving; as such, we take safety very seriously. Unfortunately, accidents do happen — as some people have noticed, one of our Street View cars hit a deer while driving on a rural road in upstate New York. Due to several user requests using the “Report a concern” tool, these images are no longer available in Street View. The driver was understandably upset, and promptly stopped to alert the local police and the Street View team at Google. The deer was able to move and had left the area by the time the police arrived. The police explained to our driver that, sadly, this was not an uncommon occurrence in the region — the New York State Department of Transportation estimates that 60,000-70,000 deer collisions happen per year in New York alone — and no police report needed to be filed.”
Having been a passenger in a car that has hit a deer, I have to agree it's a distressing experience, so I'm glad they also released some tips for drivers to avoid such accidents. I also hope they were telling the truth about the deer.
(via gizmodo)
