Google Being Sued

[JollyMon66]

Woman sues Google over walking directions
Complaint says Google Maps led her to walk on busy road with no sidewalks
By PAUL FOY


SALT LAKE CITY - A pedestrian who says she was injured by a motorist while following an online walking route has filed a lawsuit claiming Google Inc. supplied unsafe directions.

Lauren Rosenberg filed a lawsuit seeking more than $100,000 on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Utah. It also names a motorist she says hit her. Rosenberg, a resident of Los Angeles County, says she used her phone in January to download walking directions from one end of Park City to the other.

Google Maps led her to walk on a busy road without sidewalks that was "not reasonably safe for pedestrians," according to the lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles County resident. "As a direct and proximate cause of defendant Google's careless, reckless and negligent providing of unsafe directions, plaintiff Lauren Rosenberg was led onto a dangerous highway, and was thereby stricken by a motor vehicle," the lawsuit states.

Rosenberg is seeking compensation for unspecified "severe" injuries and lost wages in addition to punitive damages. The lawsuit provided no further information on her age or residence. Rosenberg couldn't be reached Tuesday. Her attorneys, Allen and Tyler Young of Provo, did not return messages.

Google spokeswoman Diana Adair did not return messages from The Associated Press.

The court papers didn't explain why Rosenberg walked along state Route 224 instead of choosing streets with sidewalks. On its version for computers, Google Maps suggests one alternative for Rosenberg's route. It also highlights a disclaimer: "Use caution — This route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths."

The mobile version of Google Maps, however, does not come with that warning.


There's lots of streets where I live and travel that don't have sidewalks...I don't need a machine to tell me that some of them could be dangerous...give me a break!

[C-Dawg]

sadly, it's probably cheaper and easier to pay her off than let it go to court so GOOGLE will probably settle with her to make her go away. Stuff like this p*** me off.

[ScarletB]

I have mixed feelings about this as Google maps has more than once taken me WAAAY out of the way on back roads only to find out there was interstate closeby or a much easier direct route.
But this being such a litigious society unfortunately costs us all money and I was raised to believe you have personal responsibility.

Ask Sarah about our trip to Mohegan for that winter phlocking 2 years ago though.....

[JollyMon66]

I have mixed feelings about this as Google maps has more than once taken me WAAAY out of the way on back roads only to find out there was interstate closeby or a much easier direct route.
But this being such a litigious society unfortunately costs us all money and I was raised to believe you have personal responsibility.

Ask Sarah about our trip to Mohegan for that winter phlocking 2 years ago though.....

A lot of the GPS problems I think come from the internal codes you set or didn't know you were to set.... i.e. use toll roads/avoid toll roads, fastest route, least traffic, etc. This Google issue sounds much more like the sad story of someone who wasn't paying attention to what they were doing and is now looking for someone to pick up the tab. Gotta get off my soap box - that's no way to start the day

[Hockey Mon]

I have mixed feelings about this as Google maps has more than once taken me WAAAY out of the way on back roads only to find out there was interstate closeby or a much easier direct route.
But this being such a litigious society unfortunately costs us all money and I was raised to believe you have personal responsibility.

Ask Sarah about our trip to Mohegan for that winter phlocking 2 years ago though.....

A lot of the GPS problems I think come from the internal codes you set or didn't know you were to set.... i.e. use toll roads/avoid toll roads, fastest route, least traffic, etc. This Google issue sounds much more like the sad story of someone who wasn't paying attention to what they were doing and is now looking for someone to pick up the tab. Gotta get off my soap box - that's no way to start the day

While I'm sure there have been several, there was an incident in England where this women's GPS instructed her to drive through a creek. So she did. And the car got stuck. And I think she had to be rescued. Sounds just like this person. People need to pay attention to were they are going.

For those with GPS's (me included), how many of us get in our car to go someplace that we've been too one million times and know how to get there by heart but still hook up the GPS/turn it on? I know I do. It's like crack, I get into the minivan and I HAVE to turn it on. I don't however, plot out directions.

[ScarletB]

I'm way more cautious about using it now. Last year it took me straight through the center of Boston on the way to Great Woods, there was a TON of construction etc and it was too late to turn back once I realized where it was taking me. By the time I got there a 4 hour trip had turned to almost 6.

[lime rickie]

And when she saw that it was such a busy road without sidewalks...why did she continue? Why didn't she google an alternate route?

I hope they don't settle because its cheaper. I hope they fight it tooth and nail. I'm sick of people wanting to profit from their own stupidity.

[ScarletB]

And when she saw that it was such a busy road without sidewalks...why did she continue? Why didn't she google an alternate route?

I hope they don't settle because its cheaper. I hope they fight it tooth and nail. I'm sick of people wanting to profit from their own stupidity.

I know, it's why WOODSTOVES come with a warning that they're hot in use!!

[lime rickie]

And when she saw that it was such a busy road without sidewalks...why did she continue? Why didn't she google an alternate route?

I hope they don't settle because its cheaper. I hope they fight it tooth and nail. I'm sick of people wanting to profit from their own stupidity.

I know, it's why WOODSTOVES come with a warning that they're hot in use!!

I work for an insurance company and I get so aggravated when the attorneys tell us they are settling something because it's cheaper than litigating.

[The Lost Manatee]

I know where she got hit and this wasn't the fault of Google. The driver who hit her was negligent and had left the pavement when he hit her. Also, this was before the release of Google Maps tool for cycling and walking so she was access information designed to get drivers from point A to point B, not for someone walking. Third, she was walking next to the highway, when less than a 100 feet away is the hike/bike trail that parallels the highway for some distance out of town.

I have no problem with her suing the driver that hit her, as he actually was responsible for he injuries.

[Glorfindel7]

Some people will sue for anything... Now if Google really has a version of the tool that shows bike/walk trails (and it's free like the other one)... than the lady doesn't have a leg to stand on on this suit because she used the wrong map (That's like using a nautical map to get from point A to point B, the route would go over water, not land...)

[SharkOnLand]

She should sue her parents for not raising her with common sense.

[chrisintampa]

And when she saw that it was such a busy road without sidewalks...why did she continue? Why didn't she google an alternate route?

I hope they don't settle because its cheaper. I hope they fight it tooth and nail. I'm sick of people wanting to profit from their own stupidity.

exactly and it is a FREE product that provides a route based on time/etc. a map would have shown the same roads why not sue all the map makers too