Google Maps is flooded with incident reports that won't go away

We recently reported on a Google Maps issue causing freezing, lags, and graphical glitches for Pixel 11 owners. While that problem relates specifically to Android Auto, a new bug appears to be affecting all platforms, including mobile and web. This glitch is causing some confusion over the app’s incident reports.

On Google Maps, you can flag problems on the road like car crashes, objects on the road, construction, and more. These incident reports are marked on the map for other drivers in the area to see. They can really come in handy if you want to avoid obstacles or delays on your drive. Once a report is submitted, users are prompted to confirm the hazard’s existence. Normally, if there’s no confirmation, the report will expire automatically and be cleared away.

However, users are noticing that incident reports aren’t disappearing. For an unknown reason, alerts are staying active for hours or even days after they’ve been reported. According to one thread (via Autoevolution), some users are seeing several incidents surrounding their area. Android Authority has also found a handful of reports from as recently as 10 hours ago and as far back as a week ago.

The incidents are appearing all over the place, but seemingly only in certain locations of the country. Chicago is reported as one of the affected areas, but I’ve also noticed numerous incident reports around Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Iowa City, and more. It’s possible that this bug affects the whole Midwest.

This may be a server-side issue that Google will have to fix. We have reached out to Google for comment on the bug. This article will be updated when new information becomes available.