Lauren Rosenberg, a California resident who was struck by a car in Park City, Utah, has blamed Google Maps after following a downloaded map into traffic. She has filed suit for $100,000.
Rosenberg was attempting to walk from one side of Park City to the other, and was following a downloaded pedestrian map from Google Maps. When she reached a four lane boulevard that did not have a crosswalk, she attempted to cross the street to reach a sidewalk on the other side, when she was struck by a car and received multiple fractures, leading to six weeks of rehabilitation.
It might seem somewhat ridiculous to sue Google for what many would dub a problem that a tablespoon of common sense should be able to prevent, but Rosenburg’s lawyer, Allen Young, claims that it was not that simple, and that Google gave her a map that was “not reasonably safe for pedestrians” according to the lawsuit.
“We think there’s enough fault to go around, but Google had some responsibility to direct people correctly or warn them,” Young said in an interview with ABC News. “They [Google] created a trap with walking instructions that people rely on. She relied on it and thought she should cross the street.”
Google spokeswoman Elaine Filadelfo would not comment directly on the lawsuit, but did refute the claim that Google Maps does not provide warnings about walking routes with potentially missing sidewalks. Since 2008, the site features the notice “Use caution – This route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths.”
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