Nevada search and rescue crews see drastic reduction of people stranded on Dog Valley Road

Verdi, Nev. (News 4 & Fox 11) — Finally, after years of GPS systems routing people to Dog Valley Road when Interstate 80 is closed, companies and people seem to be getting the message.

Dog Valley Road runs parallel to I-80. Drivers hop on west of Verdi to avoid the interstate closures during the winter. But Dog Valley Road is narrow, dirt and climbs in elevation quickly. Drivers don't always have room to turn around and get stuck in the snow. Search and rescue crews said they feared someone would die on the road after getting stuck in the winter.

After the Washoe County Sheriff's Office and the Sierra County Sheriff told News 4 that they respond every winter to stranded drivers, we reached out to the various GPS companies like Apple, Google, and Garmin. Apple said they don't route drivers to Dog Valley Road. Google said they'd make a change. And they did. This winter, when I-80 was shut down, it appears the GPS didn't route drivers to Dog Valley Road.

"With all the snow that we've seen... that have been a lot worse than prior years, you'd think we would have seen a lot more traffic on Dog Valley Road to circumvent the closures on I-80 but in fact because of the changes in the GPS and the information getting out to the public, it's really changed us responding out there to almost nothing, " Sgt. Josh Fisher with Washoe County Sherriff Office's Search and Rescue team.

In fact, Sgt. Fisher said their SAR crews have only responded to one call on that road. It was Sunday March 26. A two-wheel drive SUV got its tires stuck in the snow. GPS did not lead them off road.

"[They] went out there just to goof around and found that their vehicle that had bald tires and was only a two-wheel drive could not get through the snow on that road," said Sgt. Fisher with Washoe County Search and Rescue.

Sierra County, which also has responded over the years to the west side of Dog Valley Road said they've not had any rescue calls.

Some of the GPS routing issues may be solved for Dog Valley Road but may have been pushed west. The Sierra County Sheriff said he's having problems with GPS routing drivers to Highway 49 that runs north and parallel to I-80. Sheriff Mike Fisher said GPS also routes people to Ridge Road near highway 49. The sheriff says a husband and his wife spent five nights in their truck on Highway 49, near Yuba Pass, until conditions improved and deputies were able to get them back on the road again.