Terrible Precedent: Google sued over maps...
Discussion
Telegraph
Telegraph said:
Lauren Rosenberg: US woman sues Google 'after Maps directions caused accident'
An American woman, Lauren Rosenberg, is suing Google, the search engine giant, because she was hit by a car after following its "safe" online mapping service.
The Los Angeles-based woman, who is in her mid 20s, is claiming damages from the internet giant because she was injured while taking a “safe” route recommended by Google Maps.
According to her claim filed with the US District Court, she sustained injuries and “emotional suffering” from the January accident, which occurred after she following directions on her BlackBerry.
Google Maps instead led her to a four-lane highway without sidewalks that was "not reasonably safe for pedestrians”, according to her lawsuit.
The path also had cars speeding past her at unsafe speeds, her claim added.
The driver, Patrick Harwood, is also named in the suit, which was posted online by Search Engine Land blog.
"As a direct and proximate cause of... Google's careless, reckless and negligent providing of unsafe directions... Lauren Rosenberg was led onto a dangerous highway and was thereby stricken by a motor vehicle, causing her to suffer severe permanent physical, emotional and mental injuries," her statement read.
The case has become a sensation on tech blogs, websites and cable television channels, with critics assailing the woman for ignoring her own safety to blindly follow online directions.
But Allen Young, her lawyer, defended his client, saying that was not correct.
She believed she could reach a sidewalk on the other side of the highway and tried to cross the boulevard, but didn't even make it to the median, he said.
She was struck by a speeding car on a pitch-black night and received multiple bone fractures that required six weeks of rehabilitation, he added.
"Google failed to warn (Miss Rosenberg) of... known dangers and instead instructed her to use that dangerous path," he said.
"We think there's enough fault to go around, but Google had some responsibility to direct people correctly or warn them.
"They created a trap with walking instructions that people rely on. She relied on it and thought she should cross the street."
She is seeking compensation for medical bills, plus more for lost wages and punitive damages.
The lawsuit provided no other information about the woman, who has been misidentified online as a Los Angeles publicist by the same name.
A Google spokeswoman said the company had not received a copy of the lawsuit and couldn't discuss it.
She disputed Mr Young's assertion that Google Maps provided no warning that walking routes may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths.
Every software version for desktop computers and mobile devices has had that disclaimer since Google Maps was launched in 2008, she said.
Google also pointed out that the directions Rosenberg sought come with a warning of caution for pedestrians.
But Miss Rosenberg’s claim said she accessed the function on her BlackBerry mobile device and because of its small screen, did not include the warning.
Local police said some segments of Deer Valley Drive had sidewalks but not the stretch that she reached.
The boulevard has a walking path on the side Rosenberg failed to reach, a local police spokesman said.
He said the walking path was "totally snowpacked" and of no use to pedestrians in January.
Miss Rosenberg was unavailable for comment.
She's a 'tard. And one on the make. I hope the court crushes this one...An American woman, Lauren Rosenberg, is suing Google, the search engine giant, because she was hit by a car after following its "safe" online mapping service.
The Los Angeles-based woman, who is in her mid 20s, is claiming damages from the internet giant because she was injured while taking a “safe” route recommended by Google Maps.
According to her claim filed with the US District Court, she sustained injuries and “emotional suffering” from the January accident, which occurred after she following directions on her BlackBerry.
Google Maps instead led her to a four-lane highway without sidewalks that was "not reasonably safe for pedestrians”, according to her lawsuit.
The path also had cars speeding past her at unsafe speeds, her claim added.
The driver, Patrick Harwood, is also named in the suit, which was posted online by Search Engine Land blog.
"As a direct and proximate cause of... Google's careless, reckless and negligent providing of unsafe directions... Lauren Rosenberg was led onto a dangerous highway and was thereby stricken by a motor vehicle, causing her to suffer severe permanent physical, emotional and mental injuries," her statement read.
The case has become a sensation on tech blogs, websites and cable television channels, with critics assailing the woman for ignoring her own safety to blindly follow online directions.
But Allen Young, her lawyer, defended his client, saying that was not correct.
She believed she could reach a sidewalk on the other side of the highway and tried to cross the boulevard, but didn't even make it to the median, he said.
She was struck by a speeding car on a pitch-black night and received multiple bone fractures that required six weeks of rehabilitation, he added.
"Google failed to warn (Miss Rosenberg) of... known dangers and instead instructed her to use that dangerous path," he said.
"We think there's enough fault to go around, but Google had some responsibility to direct people correctly or warn them.
"They created a trap with walking instructions that people rely on. She relied on it and thought she should cross the street."
She is seeking compensation for medical bills, plus more for lost wages and punitive damages.
The lawsuit provided no other information about the woman, who has been misidentified online as a Los Angeles publicist by the same name.
A Google spokeswoman said the company had not received a copy of the lawsuit and couldn't discuss it.
She disputed Mr Young's assertion that Google Maps provided no warning that walking routes may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths.
Every software version for desktop computers and mobile devices has had that disclaimer since Google Maps was launched in 2008, she said.
Google also pointed out that the directions Rosenberg sought come with a warning of caution for pedestrians.
But Miss Rosenberg’s claim said she accessed the function on her BlackBerry mobile device and because of its small screen, did not include the warning.
Local police said some segments of Deer Valley Drive had sidewalks but not the stretch that she reached.
The boulevard has a walking path on the side Rosenberg failed to reach, a local police spokesman said.
He said the walking path was "totally snowpacked" and of no use to pedestrians in January.
Miss Rosenberg was unavailable for comment.
Unbelivable. It will be people like this who end up ruining public services like this. I accept with google and satnav that it is a mapping technology what will use some clever recognition to classify routes. As such things may be identified wrongly or out of date dependant on the last scan. You cannot expect these things to be gospal especially when you are expecting seasonal information about an item of road within walking distance of your house from a company that has definitively mapped most of the world. She should have gone in another direction as soon as she realised it was unsafe and made the device calculate another route or scanned the route first herself with street view. All her mistake IMO.
This is the reason why 90% of americans should all be locked in padded cells. I hate the 'sue you' mentality. Same as the McDonalds coffee cups with 'Caution Hot' on the side - No S
t Sherlock!
Whatever happened to the old way of doing things, you know, like putting your hands up and accepting you were a bit of a tt and not doing it again.
I hope this never makes it to the court room and someone will see sense. Although more likely she'll get 20 gazzillion dollars, a film and a chat show out of it.
t Sherlock!Whatever happened to the old way of doing things, you know, like putting your hands up and accepting you were a bit of a t
t and not doing it again.I hope this never makes it to the court room and someone will see sense. Although more likely she'll get 20 gazzillion dollars, a film and a chat show out of it.
dpbird90 said:
Absolute madness. When you get directions, you have the choice of "by car" or "walking".
It's my understanding that she had selected walking directions which led her onto the road, clearly being mentality deficient she blindly followed them presuming that because a phone tells you to do something then it must be correct.I really can't comprehend how stupid you'd have to be to assume that walking down a busy road is perfectly safe because a phone says so. Then to have the audacity to try and sue. I really hope this never makes it anywhere near a court.
Maybe she was looking at Google Earth and is suing because the cars which appeared stationary in Google Earth were actually moving...
Heh, all Google have to do is erase the location of her lawyer's office and the courthouse from Google maps and no doubt they will not hear from her again!! Or maybe they can insert a Google Calendar reminder for her, right after 'get out of bed', reminding her not to be a tt.
Heh, all Google have to do is erase the location of her lawyer's office and the courthouse from Google maps and no doubt they will not hear from her again!! Or maybe they can insert a Google Calendar reminder for her, right after 'get out of bed', reminding her not to be a t
t.Engineer1 said:
It sounds like she did the walking instructions but the pavement was on the other side of the highway. Still retarded but if you use a route guide you do expect it to not lead you to somewhere that isn't suitable, after all you don't ask for directions if you know your way.
Your brain should always have priority over anything else. Obviously hers is defective.
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