Google Maps Van Kills Deer, Google Earth Busts Pot Growers

Google's navigation services have provoked some interesting news items this week. Apparently, the driver of a Google Maps van accidentally struck and killed a deer. Also, over Switzerland, Google Earth helped Swiss police find and bust a two-acre pot farm.Only on the Internet, folks.

Gizmodo reports, "As you follow the street view scene down Five Points Road in Rush, NY, you can see the deer run out in front of the car, get hit and then see it on the side of the road before the car pulls over. And that's the end of the Street View data for Five Points Road."

Looking at the photos of the scene, it is clear that deer wandered in front of the Google Maps van at just the wrong moment. There's no report of how the Google van driver responded.

Either way, it's hard not to feel sorry for the deer.

In another Google-powered headline, it appears that Swiss police noticed a large swath of pot on a patch of land. The Associated Press reports, "Officers discovered the hemp field in the northeastern canton (state) of Thurgau last year while investigating an alleged drug ring, said the head of Zurich police's specialist narcotics unit Norbert Klossner. 'It was an interesting chance discovery,' said Klossner."

This is not the first time Google has aided law enforcement officials, and it probably won't be the last. A word of caution to pot growers, apparently you can't hide your plots from Google's terra-firma spying satellites.