The AP wire has a story about a women in Utah that was using Google Maps to get walking directions, then proceeded to follow them. So far nothing out of the ordinary.
So, she started on the route which took her to a four-lane boulevard without sidewalks. Now this is where things get interesting. She made the decision that she could reach a sidewalk on the other side of this road and attempted to cross it not at an intersection where lights would make it safe, but just at a spot along it somewhere. Even this would be fairly reasonable.
The part that makes this outrageous is that she was making this trip in the dead of night.
As she attempted to cross this 4 lane boulevard, she was struck by a car (the article claims speeding), and received multiple bone fractures that required six weeks of rehabilitation.
She is suing Google for $100,000 damages as well as the motorist that hit her. The article claims she is in her mid-twenties and is unemployed. I only bring this up due to the potential reason for the law suit. The need for money.
Google maps has a disclaimer on their maps.google.com website:
With my iPhone, I did the same directions and see this on the first instruction:
So, clearly, Google is covering all it’s bases with it’s Maps directions feature.
The fact that cautionary text has to be posted at all is a bit silly, but in this day and age of frivolous law suits, it’s clear that it’s important to have those disclaimers.
Even though Google did cover it’s bases, I would bet that this woman is going to win her suit simply because it’s a simple David vrs. Goliath thing. It seems most law suits, no matter how ridiculous, the plaintiff usually wins. I remember back to the woman who sued McDonalds when she spilled piping hot in her lap and won.
Anyway, it’s going to be interesting to see how this one turns out.
