It's a unique vehicle that's hard to miss and it's in West Michigan right now.

The Google Maps 'Street View' car is currently cruising Kent, Ottawa, and Allegan counties.

On Monday night, I saw the Google Maps Street View car traveling down M-6 near 131, as I rode my bike on the Fred Meijer M-6 trail.

Google confirms that they are currently in multiple counties in Michigan including: Allegan, Kent, Macomb, Oakland, Ottawa, Sanilac, St. Clair, and Wayne.

How does the Street View car work? Google explains:

To avoid gaps in the panoramas, adjacent cameras take slightly overlapping pictures, and then we "stitch" the photos together into a single 360-degree image. We then apply special image processing algorithms to lessen "seams" and create smooth transitions.

It's hard to say if the Street View car was taking pictures or not as I saw it going down M-6. That part of the map hasn't been updated, at least not yet.

Either way, make sure you're ready to be on camera next time you hit the road.

Street View is watching...

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