Lewiston Effect: Google Maps Now Alerts On Mass Shooting-Affected Routes To Divert Commuters Off Danger Zones

Worried about the Lewiston mass shooting impacting your travel? Google Maps will now tell you when a mass shooting in an area will affect your route and give you options to look up the most recent updates.

What Happened: The increasing incidents of mass shootings in the US have pushed Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google Maps to relay this information to travelers as well.

See Also: Maine Shootings Leave 16 Dead, Gunman Still On The Loose

The Lewiston mass shooting has brought this feature to the fore once again – if your travel route includes areas in and around Lewiston, Google Maps will inform you about the possibility of traffic being impacted by this.

We verified this by looking for the best route that can be taken for traveling from Lewiston to New York. Google Maps displays a red banner just above the time estimation, ensuring you don't miss the information.

Users can click on the banner to get Google’s most recent update. The feature also includes helpful links to the Lewiston Police Department's social media accounts to quickly get the most recent updates.

Why It Matters: The Lewiston mass shooting has reportedly left 22 dead and more than 50 people injured. The suspect is still at large and could potentially cause further mayhem.

"We have literally hundreds of police officers working around the state of Maine to investigate this case to locate Mr. Card, who is a person of interest," Maine Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck said.

While those living in and around Lewiston might know which areas are safe, those traveling might not know which routes to take and which to avoid. In such a scenario, Google Maps displaying this information is critical.

Photo by Bilanol on Shutterstock

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