Woman sues Google for bad directions after she stupidly walks down highway and gets hit by car

[kval07]

Woman Sues Google for Bad Directions - Yahoo! News

One day I was using my cell phone's GPS service to find the nearest Target. I was driving down the road when suddenly my cell phone piped up, "Turn right here." I looked to the right. There was no road, just a tree and some grass. I chalked it up to a GPS glitch and turned right at the next corner.

If I had been Lauren Rosenberg, however, I would have turned right at that very moment, hit the tree, suffered some cuts and minor
brain damage, and then turned around and sued Verizon for the glitch in its GPS service.

Seriously.

Rosenberg, a Los Angeles California native, is suing Google because Google Maps issued directions that told her to walk down a rural highway. She started walking down the highway--which had no sidewalk or pedestrian paths--and was struck by a car. She is suing Google for her medical expenses ($100,000), as well as punitive damages. She is also suing the driver who struck her, Patrick Harwood of Park City, Utah.

On January 19, 2010, Rosenberg was apparently trying to get from 96 Daly Street, Park City, Utah, to 1710 Prospector Avenue, Park City, Utah. She looked up the walking directions using on her Blackberry. Google Maps suggested a route that included a half-mile walk down "Deer Valley Drive," which is also known as "Utah State Route 224."

There's not much more to say--she started walking down the middle of a highway, and a car hit her. Who wouldn't have seen that one coming?
According to Rosenberg's complaint filing:

"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, causing her to suffer sever permanent physical, emotional, and mental injuries, including pain and suffering."

Google actually does offer up a warning about its walking directions--if you view Google Maps on a computer, it gives you the following message: "Walking directions are in beta. Use caution--This route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths."

This warning does not show up in PDA's and cell phones, however. I suppose Google figured that people who are smart enough to use Blackberries are probably also smart enough to not walk directly into the middle of traffic.

For the record, when I look up from my current city (San Francisco, California) to the city I grew up in (Tokyo, Japan), Google Maps suggests I kayak across the Pacific Ocean (with a rest stop in Hawaii, of course).

I can't wait until Ms. Rosenberg tries to travel overseas ("The plaintiff was unaware that attempting to kayak 5,100 miles is an unreasonable endeavor").

If you are stupid enough to walk down a highway...

[kktl32]

G'morn KVal!!.That's it I'm going to a furniture store and I'm gonna trip over my own child then sue the furniture store for not being spacious,lol(I actually read this in the news and the lady won).When do we draw the line.It's called common sense and personal responsibilty.

[~~Who,Me?~~]

My guess is that this isn't the first, nor the last time, Ms. Rosenberg has worked the system. People like that are just looking for reasons to sue someone, anyone.

[shelleyf]

That is ridiculous. I still remember the woman from McDonald's over the coffee spilling on her and burning her and she won. What is this world coming to?
Years ago my husband and I knew this man that lived down the street. He was a "professional suer", lol if you could call it that. He would take rides with people and jump out their car. Yes you heard that right, he would throw open their car without warning and jump out and sue them. He made alot of money that way. He also was on drugs, so I guess that is how he supported his habit. We were not friends with him but my husband gave him a ride to the store one time before we knew he did that stuff and he jokingly said he was going to jump out. My husband told him he better not do that. He didn't but the next day he took a ride with someone and did that and broke his leg. Got the mone, healed up and did it again and hurt his back. There was no stopping him. I can't believe what people will do for money. :sad:

[amylynne01]

Or the guy who sued McDonald's because he was overweight. Come on folks. If Google told you the best way to get there was to jump off this really high bridge, would you do it? Methinks no.

[kval07]

Hi kk

The lady that you are talking about must be a different lady. The filing date for this was May 27th, 2010.

[kktl32]

Hi kk

The lady that you are talking about must be a different lady. The filing date for this was May 27th, 2010.

sorry, I was talkin about a different WACK-a-Doodlenot this one
but it is like comparing coconuts to coconuts

[loaslaen]

My guess is that this isn't the first, nor the last time, Ms. Rosenberg has worked the system. People like that are just looking for reasons to sue someone, anyone.

I can't say walking down the MIDDLE of a highway is too bright, but I don't think any person would purposely do $100,000 worth of damage to their own body just to "work the system", and find some reason to sue.

[jen276here]

Warning: Some may feel the statements of this disclaimer and subsequent messages are offensive - read with caution because I refuse to pay your therapy bills and for emotional distress when you were obviously too far gone in the first place and no amount of therapy I can afford is going to even make a dent in resolving your issues.

Warning: The internet is only addictive when you need someone to blame for your habitual tardiness to work. I don't want to go to work either, but if you want the bills paid, shut the computer down and get your butt to work. Don't blame me, Google, Microsoft, or anyone else for your inability to know when enough's enough.

Welcome to the world of disclaimers. People have routinely proven, through a multitude of law suits, that they no longer wish to be considered even remotely intelligent or sensible. They would prefer to not be responsible for their individual actions when it is feasible that a profit could be made from their own stupidity, at someone else's expense of course.


Warning: This message is over.

[shelleyf]

I can't say walking down the MIDDLE of a highway is too bright, but I don't think any person would purposely do $100,000 worth of damage to their own body just to "work the system", and find some reason to sue.

Unfortunately there are people who do that. See my post above. I actually knew someone who did that and got tons of money.