Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Woman Sues Google Maps Over Walking Directions

Lauren Rosenberg used her Blackberry to obtain walking directions from Google Maps to walk from one place to another in Park City, Utah.  Part of the directions given told Ms. Rosenberg to walk approximately one half mile on what the site referred to as a road, but turned out to be Utah State Route 224.

Ms. Rosenberg, presumably intelligent enough to summon up Google Maps on her Blackberry and follow the directions given, wasn't intelligent enough to determine that walking on a highway could be a dangerous situation.  She followed the provided directions and was struck by a car, causing her injury.

Now she and an attorney have filed a lawsuit in a U.S. District Court in Utah, seeking damages of $100,000.00 from Google Maps for their poor directions.

While I am sorry to learn that this woman was injured, I do not believe Google Maps was the direct cause of her accident.  I don't know about you, but had I been in the same situation, I would not have walked on the highway, no matter who had provided the directions.

There were a number of alternatives Ms. Rosenberg could have employed besides putting herself into an obviously dangerous situation.

How the court will rule on this will be interesting to see.  Personal responsibility and common sense have to come into play, not only in this situation, but in any situation.















No comments:

Post a Comment